#the only thing that can make walking around for 40 mins while its tipping it down worth it is some nice warm food | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

your-daily-biaswrecking · 3 years

Text

Serva me, Servabo te

save me and I will save you

pairing: photographer!Taehyung x f.reader

genre: angst, slight enemies to lovers, slow burn, lil spooky, lil fluffy

word count: 7.7k | reading time: 40 min

chapter summary: perhaps staying close is going to be better

warnings: as always a little spooky house and a little twist

All chapters | Masterlist | Read on AO3

Chapter 4: Meticulous chaos

You didn't want Taehyung to be the first thing you thought about when you woke up, yet he was. Probably because you woke up due to noises coming from another room, and you must have subconsciously connected that to the only other person living there with you. Nevertheless, there you were, lying in bed with your eyes fixed on the ceiling but only seeing the face of a pretty boy. You shook your head. See, this is why you didn't want to stay there with him. This is why you didn't want to spend too much time around him; because you can easily get used to it.

Because when you looked through your clothes to pick what to wear, the idea of him seeing you in that outfit crossed your mind and surely affected your choice. Because when you kept hearing noises from around the house, you couldn't help but wonder what he was up to. And because you worried about how it was your turn to cook, as if there was a dire need to impress him. When you hopped down the staircase, you walked around the rooms with a clear intention of spotting him. He wasn't in the kitchen, nor the hallways. Not in the sitting room either, that solely boasted its fireplace with a strong flame.

That fire was almost out last night. Yet there it was, dancing about as if it was immortal.

You headed back to the kitchen after your small search was proved fruitless. Even though you had thought you wouldn't have to eat again for the rest of the week after the feast you had the previous night, your stomach was tight from hunger. There was, of course, the easy solution of buttering up some toast along with all the toppings the Manor provided. But Taehyung had gone out of his way to make pancakes for the two of you, it would be a weak admission of defeat to settle for less. You chewed on your lower lip as you investigated the cupboards for ideas; it almost felt like you had put yourself in a competition no one had asked for. A competition that you were doomed to fail, considering the skill Taehyung had displayed in the field already. But if he had to brag about making his hook-ups fall for him through breakfast, you had to at least try to go against him, didn't you?

And then you saw the perfect item: a pudding mix. All you had to do was add milk and bring it to a boil, no extravagant cooking talent needed. And you'd get nice little bowls of vanilla cream that not only would be a unique breakfast but would also fit the aesthetic of the Victorian house and appear as intricate as his pancakes. He didn't have to know it was actually an instant mix.

The wooden floors from upstairs kept making loud noises while you stirred the cream in the flower garnished pot. It almost sounded like he was moving around furniture, but why? You tried to take your mind off him -he had been in there too long, you thought- and finished up your breakfast, serving four small balls. The pudding smelled absolutely delicious but was still steaming, so you opened a window and put two of the bowls out to help them cool down faster since you were impatient to eat. The yellow pot had gained a couple of dark spots at the bottom, a clear sign that you hadn't stirred the milk as much as you should have. You went straight to rubbing it, hoping to fix it, while you noticed the noises had died down and you assumed the other man would walk into the kitchen any time now.

Then you heard the obvious sound of the front door closing. You dropped the pot. Where was he going? Without eating breakfast? Without even saying a "good morning"?

"Tae?" you found yourself calling out. Then you cleared your throat. "I mean... Kim Taehyung?"

There was just silence. You looked out the window but he wasn't in the garden. A sort of itch bothered your right hip, something like curiosity, or even affection for the man, that you had buried and embodied deep in your gut. An itch that acted up when you decided to ignore your thoughts of him once again and go back to scrubbing that pot.

But then the unmistakable sound of the door was heard again. You froze and bit your lip, trying to stop yourself from calling out his name again. However, you couldn't stop the way your head slowly turned towards the door, peeping from the corner of your eye at the hallway, waiting. You heard the footsteps, then you saw just the tip of his shoe before you jerked your head back forward. You wouldn't be caught watching the door, waiting for him to enter. That would be embarrassing.

"Something smells delicious." His voice was husky, his tone lower than normal, as if that sentence was the first one he had spoken that day. Which could very easily be the case.

Your eyes ran to his form the moment you deemed to be safe, and even though you knew who you would see, you still didn't expect the exact sight and ended up smiling sheepishly. Taehyung's somewhat long and curly hair was falling over and under a pair of clear glasses that hung low on his nose, poking at his eyes, looking like he had just woken up and hadn't even run one hand through it. His head was tilted back so that he could stare at you from under his locks, and his jaw was slightly turned to the side as he was probably biting his tongue. Lips and cheeks a soft pink; long fingers stroking his chin. His hair tucked behind his ears made them stand out, along with his thick neck that was framed by a short turtleneck he was wearing.

All that and your eyes hadn't even traveled further down yet.

"Hey," you simply said, your voice small, barely escaping your tight throat.

How could a man look so good in such a sight of sloppiness and untidiness?

"Hey," he rasped, let his arm fall to his side, and smiled at you. He had his camera hanging from his neck and hovering over his stomach. One hand in a pocket of his dark jeans, and a jacket on. Took two steps closer while keeping his eyes to the ground. "Did you cook something? What's the smell?"

"Yeah, breakfast," you responded and gave up on the pot you were cleaning altogether, washing your hands to turn to him. You swallowed hard when you realized Taehyung was standing right in front of you, close enough that you had to look up to see his face, yet far enough to not guarantee a complaint. And there you were again, almost uncomfortable just by existing around him. Though this time it was a different kind of uncomfortable. Something that derived from a sense of comfort that you, but mostly he, displayed right now. You couldn't quite place what it was.

"What kind of breakfast?"

"Vanilla pudding." You noticed his eyebrows rise under his fringe.

"Sounds nice." He gave you a smirk. "Didn't think you'd do that for me." He tilted his head to the side, trying to make you look at him, but you avoided eye contact.

"Don't worry, princess, it's not because of you." You bit the inside of your cheek, regretting immediately having called him that, even if it was his own words you were using against him. And the silence that followed for a heartbeat made you grow with worry.

But then Taehyung laughed. Loudly. He pulled away, swinging his feet towards the island with his back turned to you, clearly enjoying your remark. Enjoying the air in the room, the entire moment and interaction between the two of you, so casually, as if it was all going according to a plan he had made.

And then you realized. There was something in his aura that had changed. Looked a lot like the one he exuded when you first met him. Yeah, those past couple of days he had been walking around as if he was sorry he was taking up space. Now he was walking around as if he knew he could seduce you just by standing next to you. He probably wasn't wrong. Yoonji had said the fact that Taehyung was attractive made the whole situation of being stuck with him there easier, but you were certain it was the exact opposite. Just how attractive that man was, was starting to make staying there with him so, so difficult.

"Uh, well... I had breakfast hours ago when I woke up but- I'll indulge in some pudding since you made it," Taehyung murmured, leaning on the counter with his elbows and looking you up and down as if he was talking about eating something else.

You frowned a bit as you processed his words, along with his outfit. "Where have you been?"

He grinned in a way you knew he had been waiting for you to ask. Then he took the camera off his neck and placed it on the table. "Actually, I thought I'd go find that fairy ring you talked about."

"You've been out?"

"Yeah, I took the mushroom trail you said you took, the one in the tour guide. But I didn't find it."

"You've been out all morning?" you insisted.

"Yeah, I told you. But I didn't find any mushrooms. Like, how far into the woods did you go? I was walking for half an hour and I still hadn't found a single mushroom."

You stared blankly out the windows. "That's weird, when I went, the path was filled."

"Weird, huh?" he mumbled. He hummed and looked around a bit before he turned his attention back on you and your frozen stare. "How many days do mushrooms live? Maybe I was too late?"

"So, you just got home? You were out up until now?" you asked again.

Taehyung frowned. "Yeah, I already told you. Why do you keep asking?" His frown deepen when you didn't answer. When you just kept looking off at nothing like a statue. "Amy? Why, what happened?" he asked concerned, something in your expression not sitting right with him.

Finally, you looked at him. The inner corners of your eyebrows turned upwards as you took a deep breath. "I... I've been hearing... noises."

He pushed away from the counter and walked closer to you. If he did that to make you feel more protected, or himself, you didn't know. "What do you mean? What kind of noises?"

You shrugged, still staring at him without even blinking. "I don't know, just- noises. From upstairs. I thought it was you."

You felt his right palm fold nicely around your left elbow, a touch you almost didn't register right away. He didn't speak immediately, nor did you. Perhaps because there was only one thing that crossed both of your minds, yet neither of you wanted to admit it. It was foolish, wasn't it? You were adults. Adults don't believe in those kinds of things. So you kept quiet, looking with wide eyes and searching in each other what was proper to say. Because you wouldn't profess what you really wanted to say.

Perhaps that is the most adult thing you could ever do; not admit your true thoughts and feelings.

"It's an old house," the photographer was the first one to speak, starting a sentence even he didn't know the ending. "Sometimes it just makes old house noises."

"What are old house noises?"

"Maybe it's just the pipes."

"Yeah, that's what they always say," you snorted. "In horror movies!"

And then Taehyung laughed. With the hand that was on your arm, he ruffled your hair like you were some kind of adorable kid making up stories, completely invalidating your comment. I guess he chose to play the grown-up.

"Well, good thing we're not in one then, right?" he chuckled as he walked away and sat down in one of the chairs.

He was probably right. But still, how dare he pretend to be the logical one and insinuate you weren't. You rolled your eyes and puffed, crossing your arms over your chest.

"I mean, you never know," you grunted.

Taehyung bit his tongued visibly between his front teeth as he smirked at you. "Don't you think that if this place was haunted or something, they would advertise it as such? They'd make a lot more money that way."

"Not if it was really dangerous," you argued. "Then I think they would keep it a secret and offer the place at a great price to lure people in. Which is probably how Jimin and Yoonji could afford this in the first place."

"Ha!" Taehyung simply said in a way you couldn't tell if it was a genuine laugh or a sarcastic one. "No, Jimin is a lot richer than you think." He frowned as if scolding himself. "Motherfucker is richer than me!" he complained. "That's not fair, I'm the one who made him famous. What's a model without his photographer, huh?"

You tried not to break character, rolling your eyes back to avoid smiling. "That's beside the point. The noises?"

"Probably the housekeepers."

"Oh."

The truth was you hadn't thought about that, had almost completely forgotten about them. Possibly, you had even started doubting their existence; what kind of housekeepers are completely invisible?

"I didn't see them," you said. "Did you?" He shook his head in response. "Did you light the fireplace in the sitting room?" He shook his head again and you had to sigh in defeat. "Well, I guess that was them, too. Even if this house had ghosts, I doubt they'd be lighting us a fire to keep us warm."

"Or cleaning our rooms," he added with an amused grin.

You reciprocated his energy. "Unless the housekeepers are the ghosts. That would be convenient."

"Maybe that lady that was here the first day was a ghost, too. Maybe the whole Manor is run by ghosts."

You both laughed at the idea. Yeah, it was indeed ridiculous. You had to laugh.

"So... pudding?" Taehyung suggested then, pressing his lips together and motioning towards the bowls that were sitting on the counter next to you.

"Oh, right." You jumped a bit at remembering. "I have some here," you mumbled as you turned around and opened the window that put up little resistance.

You frowned at the sight. The two bowls you had placed on that window sill not long ago were still there, but...

"The bowls are only half-way full," you announced, bringing them inside while you stared at them confused the entire time.

"It's okay, I'm not that hungry."

"No, I mean they were full, then I put them outside to cool down, and now half of it is gone!"

Taehyung narrowed his eyes at you, considering how to reply for a second. "Are you suggesting I ate them somehow?"

"No!" you exclaimed, your frown deepening.

"Then what are you suggesting?"

You shook your head, exhaling. "I don't know," you said, and you really didn't. "Do you know if there's a cat or something around here?"

He humored you for a moment and thought about it. "No, actually... Haven't seen any cats. Have you?"

"Or- do you know if fairies, perchance, like pudding?"

Taehyung smiled at you and shook his head. But he didn't argue that any kind of mystical being was out of the question to be the culprit responsible for your pudding disappearing, so you guessed there could be a part of him that believed it. Or at least thought about it. And yet again was too pragmatic to admit.

"If we don't know what ate those, I suggest we just throw them away," he said eventually.

You agreed. "There's more, anyway." And with a motion, you emptied the little cream left in the bowl in the bin. The two spare bowls were still filled to the brim and warm to the touch. "But these haven't cooled down yet."

"It's okay, I prefer them hot anyway."

"You do?"

"Yeah."

You raised your eyebrows as you grabbed two little spoons and sat down next to him. "Hm... I'd never have guessed that about you," you whispered and pushed one bowl in front of him.

He opened his mouth dramatically. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know," you said biting back a smile, shrugging too, for added effect. "You just seem like a cold guy."

Taehyung snapped his head away, his chin raised high. "I'm not cold. You just don't allow yourself to get to know me better."

"I'm talking about pudding, princess."

"Stop calling me princess!"

"You first."

A small battle of stares and smirks ensued between the two of you before he gave up and picked up his spoon. You remained, and watched, waiting for his reaction like it would be your payment. And the boy, as if he knew, dragged him movements out; dipped that little spoon in the jiggling, runny cream slowly, moving the bite close to his lips ever more so, as though he was filming a commercial. He held the spoon there long enough for you to lose your thought while staring at his lips, the deep cupid bow decorating the top. Then, finally, he tried your pudding and you had to hold your breath when he closed his eyes. Was it because it was really good, or really bad?

"Oh, that's really good."

You sighed in relief. Then snorted at his act. "Don't sound so surprised." You had a taste too and you mentally congratulated yourself. Not that you had done anything much, but he didn't know that, and the result was good enough to boast about.

"I mean-" Taehyung continued while taking another bite, "-I did notice you almost burned that pot over there, so excuse me if I am pleasantly taken aback."

You rolled your eyes and smacked his upper arm, but decided to stay silent. At least for as long as you ate. Taehyung didn't speak either, simply gave you a quick glance after every bite, almost as if he was checking you were still next to him. Next to him, so close to him... You could have easily chosen a seat farther away, but let's be honest, whether it was consciously or unconsciously done, you needed to be in as low of a proximity as possible. It felt safe.

Which is probably why you got up at the same moment as he did, walked to the sink right after him, left the kitchen, and headed down the hall right behind his steps. Taehyung didn't notice, or if he did, he didn't mention it; even if it could be a nice excuse for the teasing he loved to do. He simply stopped in front of the main staircase, looked up, then around him, and then straight to you and said:

"What are you going to do now?"

"Eh?" Were you supposed to do something other than follow him around all day? Well, damn... "Um, I don't know. What about you?" you chewed out your words.

"I wanted to continue some of my work."

You remembered what he had said the previous day. "Right... And you need the sitting room to yourself, I assume?"

He shook his head. "I don't mind sharing," he said in a near whisper.

Your chest puffed as you took in a deep breath at that, trying not to let your face light up. Then again, you couldn't see your face and you could only hope it didn't betray the way your toes curled at the thought of Taehyung implying he wanted to stay in the same room as you. The way his eyes searched your own for a reaction, however, let you know he probably hadn't detected it.

"Oh, good," you mimicked his voice. "I mean, that room is easily the coziest one here, so I'd like to do my reading there, too." You felt proud of your quick and believable excuse.

"Right." Taehyung smiled at you. "It has a lit fireplace, too, so of course we both wanna stay there," he said, basically revealing an excuse of his own.

Inarguably, those were the true reasons to stay in the sitting room. It had nothing to do with the fact that both of you were starting to think the place might be haunted or, God forbid, the fact that you craved each other's company.

Satisfied with yourselves, you jogged up the stairs with the same pace, parting ways for only a minute in order for either of you to fetch your laptop and your books respectively. Taehyung called dibs on the large armchair by the window facing south and you settled for the side of the sofa that was closest to the fireplace. That way you were opposite one another and it was not only easy, but unavoidable, slipping a glance over your work and onto the other. And, simply due to the laws of statistics, it was therefore easy and unavoidable making eye contact a few times as well. He seemed more comfortable when that happened than you, giving you his usual smirk, or even the occasional wink. You, instead, cleared your throat or pretended you were taking a break from staring at the same page all the time, rereading the same sentence.

Yet it was impossible to stop. Taehyung was like a colorful flower in a garden and you were like a starving bee; simply put, you were drawn to him. Both your eyes and mind were incapable of staying focused on your books, every few seconds drifting off across the room in search of the same image again and again: the photographer's serious face, his eyebrows naturally set in a frown, his lips moving along with his thoughts, his jaw clenching and unclenching. Despite that, you weren't upset when that wasn't what you got. You weren't upset when you were met with his smug expression instead, or his head thrown back, or his attention on the dancing flame. Sure, getting caught made your face burn disagreeably, but you were never upset.

You thought being there with him -and I am referring to the entire week- would just make your blood boil. Yet it didn't. Was it because he was acting unexpectantly nice to you, an indication of a different character than the one you were counting on? Had you simply stopped hating him so much with the passage of time? Or had you gotten used to him already? Was it a combination of all three?

Whatever it was, it was definitely causing you to appreciate his presence right now.

"What are you working on?" Right, and it was definitely helping in wanting to know more about him.

Taehyung smiled at you. "I'm editing some photos for the magazine I work for."

"Oh. The ones you took in the garden?"

His smile grew, his teeth showing. "No, no. Those were just for me." He seemed so happy with the interrogation, so happy that you were showing interest. It almost made you cower a little, but he went on right away. "These are from a photoshoot I did right before I came here."

"With Jimin?"

"No, unfortunately," he chuckled. "This one was a lot harder to work with."

You nodded to show you understood. You gave your books a glance, debating whether you should keep the conversation going or go back to silence. Not that you could focus on those books, but perhaps Taehyung could focus on his thing and you were preventing that. "What magazine do you work for?" you asked, anyway.

"Vogue."

You choked. "Wha-" He had said it so nonchalantly you weren't sure you had heard that right. "Vogue? As in, the Vogue?"

"Vogue Korea, yes."

You laughed, shaking your head. "And you just say the magazine I work for? As if it's not a Devil wears Prada kind of situation?"

He licked his lips, his eyes running over your whole face. "What do you want me to do, brag? Isn't that the type of thing that made you dislike me in the first place?"

You raised an eyebrow at his words. "You don't even remember meeting me, how do you know the reason I dislike you?"

Taehyung tilted his face and lied back in his chair. "An assumption," he said casually. "Anyway, I thought you already knew I worked there."

Your tongue poked the inside of your cheek as you narrowed your eyes at him. "Believe it or not, Taehyungie, I didn't spend my free time looking up facts about you."

"Such a shame, I happen to like stalkers."

You snorted at his odd sense of humor, one of the things you clearly remembered about him. But the implication that he wanted to like you didn’t go by unnoticed. In fact, you had picked up on every single comment that served some type of flirting role, at first brushing it off as just the way the man is -he probably did the same to everyone- but you couldn’t help but question whether it was more than making conversation and if it had something to do with you. If, namely, he thought you were pretty or liked you enough to toy with you that way. It didn’t sound improbable.

“How does someone like you get a job at a place like that?” you asked again, seeing you had room to annoy him further with your questions. He didn’t seem exactly eager to get back to editing.

“Someone like me?”

“You know what I mean,” you said, rolling your eyes.

“Do I?” he asked again, but raised his eyebrows in a way you knew he was more entertained than offended.

“You’re so young.”

“Touché. Well, um…” He placed his laptop on the coffee table and leaned closer. “I made a video with Jimin and I in it as my last project in college, and then when I uploaded it on Instagram it went kind of viral. That way I was able to find a job right after I graduated, meanwhile, my follower count kept growing. Jimin gained traction too, and when he was scouted as a model for a commercial, he asked that I be his photographer. We’ve been working together ever since.”

You nodded along. You knew parts of that story, like how Jimin started his modeling career, but you had never considered it from Taehyung’s point of view.

“And Vogue?” you questioned.

He shrugged casually. “Started working there about half a year ago, when Jimin had a photoshoot for the magazine. They offered me a two-year contract.”

You hummed in response. You knew Taehyung was not doing bad in terms of his career, but you had never grasped just how good of a career that was. In your head, you thought of him on the same level as some random influencer; simply had a cute face and a few million followers online. But he seemed to be on his way to becoming one of the greatest photographers in our days, given the exponential growth of his fame in just some years.

And you… You were staying in an old house alone with this celebrity. It should be overwhelming, and it was, but not for that reason.

“Wow. It had never dawned on me just how big you and Jimin are,” you mumbled. “Like, how is Yoonji managing to keep such a man around, still?”

Taehyung laughed. “Yoonji is one of the coolest girls I know, of course she has Jimin. Also, I remember the man had a crush on her since day one of meeting her, and also she was one of the few people that were nice to him back then. He had a lot of bullies, you know.”

You fidgeted a little, looking away. “Even so, he could have cheated or left her for someone better,” you almost whispered. “Isn’t that what celebrities always do?”

You noticed out of the corner of your eyes that he was chewing on his bottom lip aggressively, staring at you unblinkingly. He didn’t respond. Neither to deny nor affirm your words. You cleared your throat and looked around the room, spotting the grandfather clock next to the door, and decided to change the subject.

“When should we have lunch?”

Taehyung finally looked away, picking up his laptop again and placing it on his lap. “I’m in no rush.”

You puffed your cheeks full of air. Maybe it was just an excuse to leave now, but you said: “Yeah, but making food takes a while.” You closed your books and held them tight in your arms, getting up and heading for the door. “Perhaps I should start cooking. Or, at least, see what there is to cook, I don’t know.”

You were almost out of the room when he quickly spoke up, hasting to stop you. “Hey! What… What do you think about having a picnic?”

That really caught you off guard. “A what?”

Taehyung licked his lips when you looked at him over your shoulder. “A picnic. The weather forecast says there’s going to be heavy rain from tomorrow on, and the woods seemed lovely this morning. I was thinking today might be our last chance to get outside a bit.”

You turned fully to face him, trying to digest his words. “You wanna go into the woods?”

He shrugged just one shoulder. “We could go towards the river. I mean, do you really like being in here so much right now?”

Oh, he knew you were scared of these walls. What he didn’t know, however, was that the outside sounded just as scary. Especially after something ate your pudding. What the hell was that?

“I don’t know,” you mumbled. “A picnic, though?”

“We can just get something, like, to eat, some snacks and stuff, fill up that basket in the kitchen, and go for an afternoon walk by the river,” he tried further to sell the idea to you. “It doesn’t sound too bad, does it?”

You fidgeted again. “No, it- it sounds romantic.”

“And that’s a bad thing?”

Maybe it was. You weren’t sure yet. Then again, the idea did sound nice, something that you would have definitely liked to do normally. You switched your weight from one leg to the other, back and forth, thinking about what to say. But the longer you took to respond, the more intense his look seemed to get. It put you on the spot, it prevented you from thinking straight, only making your mind focus on his eyes and the way he was waiting for your agreement. And the longer you couldn’t think straight, the harder it was, the more anxious you got.

“Fine,” you blurted out then. Why, you didn’t know. Maybe because you couldn’t think of a decent reason to say no.

You missed the way he smiled at you in favor of getting out of there quickly. You hid away in your room, no longer concerned with being alone since you had other things to keep your mind busy with. The other things being Taehyung and Taehyung alone. You tried contacting your roommate in need of some advice or a simple willing ear to listen to you, but she either was ignoring you or the signal was so bad she didn’t even get your texts. So all you were left to do was walk up and down the room, rummage through your clothes to find something to wear, sigh repeatedly while lying face down on the bed, bounce your leg and pull your hair… Nervous as if you were going on a date. Feeling funny in your stomach and you didn’t know why.

Taehyung was already in the kitchen, making a couple of sandwiches. You joined him without too much noise, packing up some crackers, some cheese, some charcuterie, some fruit. The basket was already looking deliciously full, and it was all starting to seem like a good idea, after all, ignoring the itch that was against this whole thing. You even smiled and agreed to the bottle of wine he suggested completing the meal. You covered everything up with a blanket you borrowed from a spare room and left the house with the hiking guide in your hands.

“The stream seems to be very close, only about a ten, fifteen-minute walk,” you let him know as you read the guide.

Taehyung was walking ahead of you, caring the basket he had insisted on, leaving you in charge of recognizing the path. He had his small camera with him, hanging from his shoulder like a purse, and every now and then he stopped to take a picture of the scenery. He was right; the forest seemed inviting today. Looking around you almost couldn’t believe it was the same trees surrounding you. There was ample sunlight boring through the branches and the leaves, hitting your face gently and providing some warmth. The trail was wide and easy, making the walk enjoyable enough, something the other trail had barely offered. What you didn’t expect to find was wild, purple little flowers by the egde as if it was already springtime.

Taehyung bent down and collected every single one of them, making room for them inside the basket.

“Why are you picking flowers?” you asked.

“For you,” he simply answered.

You clicked your tongue, not quite believing him. “Seriously.”

“I just thought they’ll look good with our picnic,” he said, changing his original answer.

You hadn’t even walked ten minutes and you could already hear the running water, gentle yet loud enough to reach your ears. And then it appeared next to the trail. The river was wider than you expected and boasted the bluest waters you had ever seen. White, roundish rocks were inside and around the stream, causing it to splash onto them violently and make all the noise. It was shallow, you could easily see the bottom of it, and the trees were almost falling over it, hiding it away, giving the water its bright, turquoise color.

“There should be a bridge here,” you said, checking the guide again, while Taehyung had already placed the basket down and was taking pictures of the place.

“There is,” he said, pointing upstream without taking his eyes off his camera.

When you walked closer to him and leaned over the edge, you spotted the stone, single arched bridge that was definitely older than the Manor. Its grey stones having turned dark for the most part where the water hit. Over it, it was clear enough for you to be able to see the peaks for a couple of mountains in the background, the river probably having begun up there and gotten so far in its search for the sea.

“Here.” Taehyung’s voice pulled you from your thoughts, along with his hand that landed on your arm. He pushed you in front of him. “Stand over there.”

“Wha- why?”

“Let me take your picture.”

You stayed still, where he needed you to be, and stared at him as you felt your entire head fire up. “Me? Why would you do that?”

Taehyung just looked at you as if you were acting weird and this was something normal you did all the time. “Isn’t that what people do on vacation? Take pictures?”

“Um…”

“Do you not want a picture with the bridge?”

You gulped, pushing your hair behind your ear and then immediately undoing it because you knew you looked bad that way. “Alright,” you whispered. Truly, it wasn’t anything that crazy, you had your photo taken so many times before, by so many people -even strangers- and still, you had no idea what to do, how to pose. You just stood there, looking not at the camera but at the man hiding behind it.

“Right!” he called once he was done. Gave the screen a glance and nodded, satisfied with himself. “Not bad at all. Wanna see?”

He wasn’t lying. The picture was more zoomed than you expected, your face taking up most of the space and outshining the scenery, but it wasn’t bad. Apparently, your a little confused-a little awkward face appeared pretty nice through the lens. Or maybe it was all just the talent of the photographer.

“Where do you want to sit?” he asked you.

Happy to be back to occupying yourself with anything but your thoughts regarding him, you looked around and walked deeper into the path. “Let’s get closer to the bridge, there’s an opening there.”

And so you did, found some grass you could put the blanket down on right by the foot of the bridge. Taehyung gave you the piece of clothing to lay down, and right after the bouquet of flowers he had gathered. Shaking your head at his antics, you placed them on the side, by the basket. The photographer left you alone to take the food out as he got distracted by the beauty of the place again, walking right to the middle of the bridge and taking many pictures. Up the mountain, down the stream, back at you and your little picnic set.

You arranged all your food on the two plates that proved themselves too small for everything, keeping the sandwiches along with the bottle of white wine inside the basket, two glasses on each side of the blanket. It was a nice spot, you thought. It had a nice view and the sun reached down to cover you, the wind blocked away from the forest to your left and all of it together making for a cold-free location.

“Tae,” you whined his name when he got back down there yet was still just taking pictures here and there. Pictures of nature, of the food, of you. Again. “We’re not here for a photo shoot, we’re here to eat!”

He hit himself on the head. “Oh, right. How could I forget,” he said in a teasing voice, yet put the camera away and finally sat down crossed legged in front of you. He gave you a big, boxy smile. “This is nice, isn’t it?”

You looked away, kind of not wanting to admit it, but nodded anyway. “Let’s eat,” you announced, picking up a sandwich.

Taehyung opened the wine bottle and pour both of you some. He clicked his glass onto yours and smiled at you before tasting it. And you were taken aback; that was the best white wine you had ever had.

“Hold on!” you mumbled, taking a look at the bottle to double-check the name. “This is really good!” It was a Sauvignon Blanc, but that wasn’t surprising. It must have been the specific variety because it had such an aroma, just a fruity taste, it seemed more like drinking juice than a dry wine.

“I know,” Taehyung told you. “You know, I’m not a big fan of alcohol but I always make an exception for this wine. It’s my favorite.”

“I’ve never heard of it.”

He sucked some air through his teeth. “Probably because it’s a little pricy…”

“Are you implying I’m poor?”

He laughed. “No, I’m implying I’m rich.”

You chuckled while rolling your eyes at him, too. Then you both started biting down on your sandwiches that, needless to say, were delicious, the bread soft and crunchy as if it was baked just that morning. You filled your mouth up with all other snacks as well, appreciating the combination of the wine with the cheese. Oh, and you gulped down that ambrosia-like drink so fast. One glass, then another… You couldn’t have enough.

“I swear, I’ll get too drunk to walk back home at this rate,” you chuckled as Taehyung was pouring you the third glass.

“Then I’ll carry you.”

You dismissed him with a push on the arm. He wasn’t drinking as much but was reciprocating your energy easily. Your chuckles, your jokes, your openness. He threw a grape in the air and caught it in his mouth, which in turn gave you the brilliant idea to turn this into a game. The rest of the food was all gone save for a couple of crackers, the sun was getting more golden as it was slipping downwards, the birds’ chirping getting louder and the temperature falling just enough to make you squirm.

Your brain felt fuzzy but you would argue it was in a good way. You lied down on the blanket with a giggle, folding your arms behind your head, looking at the sky. It was pink.

“We should head back before it gets too dark,” you shared your thought.

Taehyung hovered over you, enjoying your eyes instead of the view. He hummed. “I don’t want to leave yet.”

You smiled at him. “Me neither,” you admitted, and it was true. “Look at the sky!”

He glanced up just as a flock of birds flew over, making him decide to grab his camera one more time. As he was too busy to notice, you let yourself look at him. Stare at him. He blended so well with the artistry of nature, you thought. And he was acting so nice lately, he was making you feel so nice. You knew that meant you were letting your icy cold walls break down in front of him, but at the moment you didn’t have the mental strength to stop that.

“Can I take a picture of you just like that?” he asked when he turned to you again.

You didn’t flinch, you didn’t cower away. You just grinned and let him. The man hovered over you again, hiding his face behind the lens, and you kept giving him the brightest beam you had to offer. Not because you suddenly knew how to pose; it came effortlessly. Taehyung stood up to photograph you from farther away, then got back on his knees and literally crawled to you. Your expression couldn’t help but get more and more serious, the closer and closer he got. Kneeling next to your hip and holding himself up with an arm next to your head, you heard his camera snap a couple more times, and he was so close to you now you felt like there was barely enough space to breathe.

“Tae…” you purred in an attempt to bring his attention back on earth, feeling like he had drifted away somewhere.

He heard you, and with one last snap, he pulled the camera away from his face. You couldn’t have predicted how much worse that would be; how much worse it was to be looking at his eyes -his lips when he licked them- instead of an inanimate object. And he was, oh, so close.

He smiled at you sweetly and completely dropped the camera next to you but still didn’t move an inch. Perhaps he was even getting closer as he used both hands to trap you under him- you didn’t know, you couldn’t fully understand.

“You know, Amy, I’m really glad we came here,” he spoke, his voice as low as it was that morning, basically resonating in a whole different frequency, nearly hard to be registered by a human ear.

You pressed your lips together as you gave him a curt nod. “Yeah, the picnic was a good idea.” He wasn’t even touching you but you felt like you couldn’t move. Why couldn’t you move? Why didn’t he move?

He licked his lips again and pushed his glasses up his nose with his middle finger. “I mean- hmm…” his voice vibrated in his throat. ”I’m glad we both came to this Manor. It’s better that you’re here.”

You had to bite your lower lip and your legs pressed well together. “Uh, yeah…” you said, clearing your throat immediately after. “I’m glad you’re here, too. To be frank, it would have been very boring if I was staying here alone.”

He licked his lips a third time- what the hell? Was he doing it on purpose, solely to keep your attention on them? Or had he always been doing it and you were just noticing now? Noticing because your eyes were on his lips anyway.

“I’m good company, then?” he chirped.

“You’re not terrible.”

Taehyung chuckled. You noticed his eyes traveling down your body with an amused smirk. “You’re not so bad yourself, princess.”

The way the nickname rolled off his tongue made your stomach do a flip. It wasn’t like all the other times he used it to make fun of you. Or maybe it was, but this time you liked it. Maybe you were too tipsy, or too lost in the moment, but your breath was heavy and his eyes felt like beams of fire burning into your form. And you couldn’t get a hold of yourself; you couldn’t stop, you couldn’t pull away, you couldn’t think straight. Your muscles moved on their own, your body taking control over your mind and you leaned in without knowing, without realizing. You really didn’t realize what you were doing until your lips hit his.

Taehyung immediately kissed you back. One of his hands snaked under your head and held the back of your throat to pull you closer to him as he swallowed you desperately. It was impossible to escape- his lips were soft and fit on yours with practiced ease. He was warm, and your body craved this heat as if it was freezing to death. And you couldn’t stop, you couldn’t pull away, you couldn’t think straight. And perhaps you didn’t want to.

He broke away only for a second to catch his breath; it was a second too long. The moment his lips left yours it was like you were freed from a prison spell. You could move, you could think. And you did, pushing him away.

“No…” you mumbled. Got on your feet right away, looking around as if you were lost. “No, no!” you basically screamed.

And you started running away.

“Amy!” Taehyung called your name as he got up too. He called you again, and again as he saw you run down the path you had taken to get there. “Amy, wait up!” you heard his voice get fainter as you got farther. But you didn’t wait up. You didn’t slow down. Now that you had started running from him, you didn’t know how you would stop.

Next Chapter

#kim Taehyung #taehyung fanfic #bts #bangtan #bangtan fanfic #v #fanfictin #multichapter #taehyung x reader #taehyung x oc #enemies to lovers #slow burn #angst #bts x reader #serva me servabo te #save me and i will save you #chapter 4

57 notes · View notes

underthewingsofthblackeagle · 4 years

Note

The soft stay at home interactive ask: 5 and 29? :) ❤

Thank you for the asking @whatsoeverislovelyandpure :)

5.) 5 tv shows that cheer you up

That’s really a hard question, because a) I don’t have that much time to watch TV (especially not since the pandemic started) and b) Comedy or something like that is not my ‘cup od tea’. If I watch a show, it’s mostly about historical topics. For me it’s important that I can take something with me to think about. Here are 3 German shows that did that for me:

1. “Unsere Mutter, unsere Väter” (engl. “Generation war”) 3 Episodes: 5 friends leave Berlin for WWII and promise they will stay friends. They believe the war will be over ‘by Christmas’, so it will not last more than 3 months. But then the reality of war and war crimes sets in ... All 5 have to make decisions that they never thought of before ... I started watching the show because of Tom Shilling who played one of the main characters in “Napola” (engl. “Before the Fall”) in a great way, but stayed for the story. It has helped me to better understand things that happend to my family during WWII. A last word about the cast: It had some of the best young actors Germany had at that time (2013).

2. “Weissensee” (engl. “The Weissensee-Saga”) - 4 Seasons: The show follows several families (and two love stories between them) trough the forty years of the history of the former communist GDR / East Germany, especially the rise and fall of a Stasi-Family and (in later Seasons) gives a little insight into the peaceful protest movement in East Germany that brought the regime down and let to the re-unification of our country. Very interesting for everyone who likes to know more about the former GDR. While “Generation war” cated mostly young actors, the cast of “The Weissensee-Saga” included some of the best older german actors. 3. “Charité” - 2 Seasons: The show is about the history of Berlin’s most famous hospitals “The Charité”. Season 1 was interesting because it focused on a young girl who became a nurse (by accident) and later went on to study medicine in Switzerland. Besides it showed the story of some of the important doctors and professors of that time and their great sacrifices to develop new medicines and medical techniques. I didn’t like Season 2 (which is set in the time of WWII) that much, because I felt it played too much with cliches.

4. Not a German, but a Norwegian show that captured my interest was “Occupied”. - 2 Seasons: It’s a fictional story in which Norway is occupied by Russia in the wake of an energy crisis. The show follows different persons and their way to handle the new situation in which history has thrown them from one day to the next. The main question the show asks, is: What is freedom and how to stay free in an occupied society.

29.) A favourite easy recipe: 5 ingredients or less, or takes less than 30 min to make

To answer your question, let me share a receipt for Walnut bread with rosemary herbs with you:

600 g wheat flour type 1050 400 ml lukewarm water 1 cube fresh yeast or 1 package dry yeast 1 ½ tsp salt (if you want; I make it without salt, because of my bloodpressure) 1 ½ tsp sugar 200 g walnut kernels 2 sp of dried or fresh crushed rosemary herbs

The pure working time for the walnut bread is about 30 minutes. Plus 2 ½ hours for walking and about 50 minutes for baking.

PREPARATION:

Sift the flour into the mixing bowl of the food processor and insert the dough hook. If you do not have a food processor, roll up your sleeves and knead by hand: 8-10 minutes! I measure 200 ml of lukewarm water in a measuring cup, dissolve the sugar and yeast in it and stir 2-3 more tablespoons of the flour with a whisk. I leave this pre-dough to stand for about 20 minutes until it bubbles nicely. During this time I roast the walnuts in a coated pan without oil at medium to high heat. A TIP: First put the finished nuts from the package into a coarse sieve and sieve off the flour and the small particles - they burn too quickly in the pan. I move the walnuts around in the pan all the time so that they roast evenly. As always, when you roast nuts or seeds, nothing happens for a long time and then everything happens very quickly. That's why you should always have a bowl or plate ready to get the nuts out of the pan quickly before they turn black. When the walnuts are cooled down, I take a handful of them off and put them aside. I chop the rest finely. Then I add the chopped walnuts and the herbs (together with the salt, if you use it) to the sifted flour and switch the food processor to level 1. Then I slowly add the pre-dough, fill the measuring cup with another 200 ml of lukewarm water, but add this to the dough only little by little, because each flour absorbs a different amount of water. If the dough seems too crumbly, more water can be added. If it sticks a little to the bottom of the bowl, but forms into a piece of dough, it is good. I leave the dough to knead for about 7 minutes at level 1 and then for the last minute at level 2, switch off the machine, check again that everything is well kneaded and cover the bowl with cling film to prevent the dough from drying out. It may now rise for about 1 ½ hours. During this time the dough increases its volume enormously - thanks to the many yeasts. However, each yeast dough must be kneaded a second time - this time by hand. To do this, I place the dough on a clean and floured surface and work it through again for about 2 minutes. During this process I work in the walnuts that I have set aside, which I have only roughly chopped through 2-3 times with a knife. Then I form a ball from the dough and let it rest for about 5 minutes. During this time I butter a box form of approx. 30 cm length and sprinkle additional flour into it. Then I take the dough ball, press it out with my hands on a clean, floured work surface to form a rectangle. I cover the baking tin with a baker's linen or a clean kitchen towel and let the dough rise in it for another 40 minutes. In the meantime, I preheat the oven to 200°C top/bottom heat - the grill on the bottom rail and, if possible, a small metal bowl on the floor. When the dough has risen for the second time, I put the baking tin on the rack in the oven and quickly put about 1 large shot glass full of water into the metal bowl and close the oven door quickly. Due to the steam blast the bread develops a particularly beautiful crust. But be careful: there is a risk of burns when steaming water! After about 10 minutes I open the oven door for about 10 seconds, let off the remaining steam and switch the oven back to about 180°C. After a total of 45-50 minutes baking time the bread is ready. But I leave the oven still on and let the bread cool down only enough so that I can remove it from the baking box. Because of the form the bottom is still quite soft, so I put the bread into the oven again for 10 minutes and cover it with a piece of aluminium foil so that it only gets heat from below. Then the bread is ready and can cool down on a cake rack. It smells wonderful and it is difficult to wait the hour until it can be cut. Toasted and with some fresh butter the bread is a real treat!

Thanks again and have a wonderful Sunday!

1 note · View note

dietsauthority · 4 years

Text

The Best Tips on How to Get Abs (For Girls!)

Having trouble getting abs?

You're not the only one! We women have it hard when it concerns sculpting our tummies as well as the factor is that on a biological degree, females have a more difficult time developing muscular tissue mass compared to men.

But that's not the end of it!

Getting abdominal muscles is simply a little challenging, but do-able! I'll share a few ideas as well as techniques with you and also you'll have those abs you desire in no time.

Let's jump in!

Mythbusters

There are a great deal of misconceptions out there, allow's overcome them all. shall we?

You should do x grinds for x days: You're lying if you state you have not heard this. But things is that if you have actually been following this consistently, after that you most likely will not see outcomes for a long time.

This is because you typically aren't educating the rest of your body as well as following the sort of diet regimen and also cardio regular you should.

So stop!

Eat XYZ every day: I've listened to a great deal of "wonder foods" that will make you get abs without needing to workout. I want to inform you that these "miracle foods" haven't helped anyone and also you must deny whatever you see on the net without doing research.

Get abs in a week:Getting abdominals is a procedure and there is no other way you could get abs in a week unless you have actually been functioning in the direction of that goal or if you have a very reduced body fat portion.

What Are You Placing in Your Body?!

You do not get abdominals over night. You should be disciplined, have perseverance as well as eat right to get the abdomen you want.

Let's discuss the diet regimen component, will we?

And, no, you don't need to starve yourself to get abdominal muscles. You could do both, eat and also have rockin' abdominals. I'll inform you how.

Here are a couple of things you should maintain in mind:

1. Skip The Soda

If you're the kind of person who wants to have a glass of coke with their dishes, then you've obtained another thing coming which wouldn't be Abs.

In a study done by L.R. Vartanian et. al in 2006, it was discovered that soft beverage consumption has actually been connected to obesity!

Soda also has vacant calories, which indicates you obtained no nourishment from it, simply calories.

So, avoid the soda and also claim hey there to lemonade!

2. More water, please!

" Water is life's mater and also matrix, mother and tool. There is no life without water." - Albert Szent-Gyorgyi

Did you understand that water can help you shed even more calories?

According to a research study performed by Dennis, E.A. et. al in 2009, it was found that water helps increase your resting power expenditure to 24-30 %within ten mins of alcohol consumption water! And also this result lasts for at the very least one hour!

This effect is also much more outstanding if you consume alcohol cool water as your body burns a lot more calories when you consume alcohol even more water!

That's not it!

Ever felt like consuming even if you're bored?

Next time this occurs, beverage water rather. Water in fact aids you feel' full' and research studies have revealed that if you drink water prior to meals, you are likely to eat less!

So start drinking!

3. Bye bye Junk food, Hi Cooking!

If you desire a healthy body( and rockin' abdominals )then you have to start dining in restaurants less and also cooking more.

Yes, I get it. You don't have the moment to cook. Pay attention to me ...

Home-cooked meals have greater nutritional value compared to fast food. If you make a burger in your home it will have less calories than a hamburger you eat from your favourite restaurant.

With eating home-cooked meals you are in control of specifically what you consume. Start consuming at home!

My tip: Prepare dishes in advance to save time.

4. Don't Skip Meals!

Do you assume it is a good idea to avoid a dish to shed weight? Wrong.

First of all, if you avoid meals you will wind up reducing your metabolic rate. What that indicates is that your body will certainly take even more time to absorb food, making you ultimately acquire weight.

Not just that, missing meals could make your body run low on the essential nutrients which are connected to exhaustion, inadequate psychological feature, and also other major wellness concerns.

So you better not skip those meals!

Practice portion control instead.

5. Protein is bae!

If you're a girl that desires abs after that you better beginning having much more healthy protein! As I stated previously, it's hard for us ladies to develop muscle mass as compared to men.

And that are buddies of muscle mass? Protein!

Tri to increase your protein intake by consuming protein-rich foods like eggs, poultry, and so on. I directly want to consume my favorite Strawberry Protein Powder!!

Workouts for Killer Abdominals!

Okay, so since we have actually looked at the diet plan component, let's talk concerning functioning out. Currently if you're a careless bottom then I have bad news for you: There is no way that you can avoid exercise if you desire to get abs.

There are 2 things that you must recognize:

1. Don't Slack On Cardio

because cardio will assist you shed your fat. Your body fat percent requires to be low in order for you to get abdominals. Attempt as well as do cardio for 30-40 mins every day.

My pointer? Join a class. Be it aerobics, swimming, rotating, and so on. In this manner you'll find out something new as well as obtain your cardio done. This way you will not get bored of doing the very same thing every day.

2. Remain Active Throughout The Day.

Don't rest on your bum all the time. Attempt to make little tweaks to your daily routine to incorporate more' activity'. Take the staircases rather than the lift! Choose a stroll with your guy. Simply maintain active.

Now that we've obtained that out of our way let's discuss functioning out!

8 Ab Exercises

Let me walk you via some workouts that'll help you get those abdominals you have actually been wanting.

CAUTION: Your belly will certainly hurt if you laugh, cough, etc. after these, so prepare yourself for that melt and aches!

1. Kettlebell Russian Twists

These are simple yet the BURN later ...

Sit on the floor with your knees bent as well as your legs with each other.

Hold a kettlebell in front of you by its horns with your joints bent.

Lift your feet off the flooring as well as find your balance on your tailbone.

Twist to the right and touch the kettlebell to the floor, then immediately twist to the left as well as repeat.

Continue by alternating sides.

2. Cable Reverse Crunch

Attach an ankle joint band to a cable television as well as reduced the pulley-block to the base of the machine.

Sit before the equipment with your legs together. Secure the ankle band around both ankle joints, after that exist back on the floor.

Lift your legs over your hips, with knees bent 90 degrees. Extend your arms along your sides.

Lift your hips and bring your knees towards your head as for you can.

Keep your knees bent.

Pause a moment on top, then slowly uncurl to the begin, standing up to the pull of the machine on the return.

3. Plank

Get right into the plank with your hands below your shoulders as well as your head, hips, and heels in line.

With your hands as the pivot point, walk your feet around in a circle.

Go one complete revolution in each direction to complete one rep.

4. Crunches on Exercise Ball

Sit on a well-inflated medicine ball.

Place your hands behind your head, and also stroll your feet away from the round so your torso begins to roll onto the ball.

The round must sustain your hips as well as the contour of your lower back. Your legs should develop a bridge with your knees bent at right angles.

Exhale and also lift your upper body by about 45 degrees, drawing the deep abs in toward the back, as well as return to starting position.

5. Bicycle Crunches

Lie flat on the floor with your reduced back pushed to the ground. Intertwine your fingers, and also place your hands behind your head.

Bring your knees in towards your chest, and also lift your shoulder blades off the ground.

Straighten your appropriate upper hand from the ground while turning your upper body to the left, bringing your right elbow joint towards the left knee. Ensure your rib cage is relocating as well.

Now button sides as well as do the same movement beyond to complete one rep( and also to produce the' pedalling' activity ).

6 . Hanging Ab Curls

Using a pull-up bar, get a good hold with your palms facing out or toward each other.

Start with your legs hanging directly down, and on an exhale, pull your abdominal muscles toward your spinal column and also bend your knees, raising them up towards your chest.

Without moving, slowly lower your knees, returning to a straight-leg position.

7. Double Crunches

Lie on your back on the floor, increasing your limbs to a 90-degree angle.

Engage your abs to lift both your shoulders and pelvis off the ground. Touch your fingers to your toes.

Keeping your core involved the entire time, gradually lower them back to the starting position to finish one rep.

Come into a side plank on your right side, with your feet piled one on top of the other and also your weight on your right elbow joint with your fingers getting to far from your body, palm down.

Place your left arm behind your head, as well as inhale to prepare.

Exhale and also draw your navel to your spinal column to engage your deep abs, and revolve your left rib cage toward the floor.

Return to beginning setting, and also repeat seven more times for a total of eight reps, after that change sides. Repeat series once more on both sides.

That's All Folks!

Not too hard, wasn't it?

Well, getting abdominal muscles is just a matter of time and commitment. Ensure you eat well and don't exert your body! If you comply with these ideas to the word, I make sure you won't have a difficult time obtaining abdominal muscles at all!

Just enjoy with your workout regimen and consume great, wholesome food!

If you need anything or desire to know extra, leave a comment below as well as I'll enjoy to assist you!

#7 day diet #cholesterol diet #diet #diets that work #fruit diet #nutritional value #pregnancy diet #soup diet #three day diet #vinegar diet #wellness

1 note · View note

jimlingss · 6 years

Text

She’s Testosterone 3 [Finale] 2/2

Read the Original: She’s Testosterone Read the Sequel: She’s Testosterone 2 Read the Final Installment: She’s Testosterone 3 Part 1|Part 2

Words: 15.7k Genre: 49% Crack, 40% Fluff, 10% Smut, 1% Angst. Gender Bender!Au Summary: Drop dead gorgeous, cute and sassy - you adore your best friend. But is there more beneath the surface? Who exactly is Min Yoonji? Warnings: Swearing, dirty talk, praise kink, light spanking and all other kinds of sin...

Disclaimer: Includes cross-dressing as the opposite gender. Please do not read if you are uncomfortable with the subject matter. Viewer discretion is advised.

“You must know him well if you’re willing to grab him like that.” Yoonhee hums, tilting her head to the sky. Your arm is looped around hers, the way she decided to walk with you. “He doesn’t let anyone touch him anymore, not even me, the relative that cares for him the most.” She says dramatically before laughing, “so, are you the two of you close?”

Her eyes pin onto yours, making you absolutely terrified. You feel transparent, like she can see every single sweat bead roll down your face, every breath you take. You’re prey while she’s the predator, an adorable cub compared to the lioness. It feels like you’ve propelled back into the days where you first met your roommate. “S-somewhat.”

The Min family certainly has skills in intimidation.

“You’re cute, you know?” Yoonhee giggles menacingly. “I would’ve never guessed that you were his type.”

“Oh..me and Yoongi…” Your entire face goes red. “We’re not like that! Not at all actually.”

“Yeah?”

She looks amused. You scramble, accidentally stuttering out of nervousness. “I-It’s just that we’re really good friends. Nothing more really. I...uh...I-I’m not sure.”

“Yoongi’s a nice boy.” She sighs out, avoiding the crowd and scowling when there’s too much noise. It seems like she hates Seokjin’s singing and when she passes by Hoseok reading his poem, she almost gags. The similarities between her and Yoongi are incredible. “He was like a puppy when he was younger, the darn cutest thing ever.”

Your eyes gleam, soaking in all the information and you hum in agreement. “Yoongi appears cranky but he’s actually really...soft.”

“Exactly.” She snaps her fingers in her other hand, pointing at you with a smirk. “Looks like you really do know him. He acts like a grumpy grandpa shouting at kids to get off his lawn but he’s still a kid inside. Childish indeed. Back in the day, he would pout and cry when he didn’t get what he wanted. And when he did, he had the biggest smile. What a twerp. We’re not that far away from age, only five years, so I grew up with him.”

It hits you that you actually don’t know about his family or what he was like when he was a child. Hearing all these things piques your curiosity and is absolutely fascinating. You hang onto every single one of his aunt’s words and syllables. She notices that you’re listening intently and her smirk grows, continuing to ramble.

“Girls and boys used to chase him in the neighborhood. He was that cute. Still is but he has this whole man facade and tries to act mad all the time. It doesn’t really work though. Oh! We used to call him Yoongi bear since he was so cuddly.”

Yoongi. Cuddly. “He was?!” Your eyes nearly fall out of its sockets.

The older woman cackles, tipping back her head. “One time after the lights had gone out, he hung onto me without letting go. And as a toddler, he was practically attached to his mom’s hip. The kid has an iron grip, I swear. He loves hugs and affection.”

It sounds like you’re hearing about a completely different person.

But you can understand, you’re able to draw connections. It’s no wonder Yoongi really doesn’t mind when you curl in bed with him, when you latch onto his arm, when he initiates holding hands with you.

As you’re about to pry for more, your name is called aloud.

“Y/N?!” Yoongi’s jaw has dropped and his parents look quite surprised too. “Yoonhee?!”

His aunt cackles again, letting go of you and meeting him halfway. She puts a hand on his shoulder and he stares at her with a distasteful expression. “What are you doing here?”

She embraces him for a tiny second. “Thought I’d come to visit.” Then her voice drops down, whispering something in his ear that you can’t hear. Yoongi’s face goes scarlet and he pushes her off. She walks away from him, joining with the rest of the family.

(“Don’t corrupt her too much. She’s a sweet little thing.”)

Yoongi sighs and then looks up at you. “What-”

“And who may you be?!” His mother has ran up to the both of you, taking your hands, clutching them in hers and making you jump. She grins, a gummy smile that is reminiscent to your best friend but rather having a scary demeanor, she is bright and chirpy, contrasting to her husband.

Yoonhee grins and she crosses her arms, whipping her hair back. “It’s his girlfriend.”

Yoongi’s father’s brows raises. “Really?!”

“No! No!” You hastily wave your hands. “I'm Y/N. Nice to meet you and I’m just a good friend of Yoongi’s.”

His father virtually sighs in disappointment; for a sheer second he was excited and proud of his son. “Oh.” Yoonhee pouts, tilting her head to the side as she studies you again but Yoongi’s mother has yet to accept defeat.

“You are just too cute, Y/N!” She takes you along, looping her arm through yours. Her eyes are full of fondness, taking in your features and staring into your irises. “You know...I've always wanted a daughter…”

”Actually, tomorrow, I was planning to go shopping since I’m here. Would you like to come along with? I’m sure you have a great sense of style!”

Yoonhee raises her nose, accompanying you. “Sounds fun.”

Yoongi’s left behind, his family trailing after you. “Hey!”

The family dotes on you as if you’re a precious daughter of their own. In a million years, you would have never expected the Min family to be like this, look at you with such kind eyes and speak gently and warmly. Then again, they have Min Yoongi’s softness without the facade of intimidation or the ominous, threatening aura.

Yoonhee is the one that keeps you on the edge of your seat the most, a sharp tongue and beauty that is unrivaled with. She reminds you of Yoonji but a real life version, an exact embodiment and the resemblance is uncanny. There are several occasions where you almost call her Yoonji rather than her own name.

Yoongi’s mother is talkative and clingy. It’s reminiscent of how Yoongi ever so often demands affection from you and the way he mumbles on a tangent incoherently when he’s stressed. But she’s considerate and loving, making your heart feel full with her maternal tenderness. On the other hand, Yoongi’s father is quieter and comes off as serious, solemn and dignified. But you notice the way he cares for his wife, cautioning her to watch her step, walking on edge of the sidewalk closest to the passing cars, opening water bottle caps and securing her jacket around her shoulders when it becomes chilly.

His benevolence and thoughtfulness is quiet but distinctively present.

From Yoongi’s mother’s gummy smile to the way his father acts in a nonchalant manner and Yoonhee's unrelenting sarcasm - the similarities are striking.

It feels like you’re seeing parts of Yoongi, pieces of him, walking around on their own. And you’ve never been more in love with a family before.

Park Jimin walks as a ghost.

It feels like a part of his being has been ripped away. His soul is missing. His purpose has vanished. The love of his life, apple of his eye, the light of his world, the Romeo to his Juliet, has rejected him. Thus, he wanders around with a broken heart, begging someone to mend it for him. He cannot work the needle and thread past his tear soaked eyes.

That is….until he lays those same eyes on a certain someone.

Pouty lips. Rounded cheeks. Soft orbs. The breeze carrying strands of blackened hair in front of their face but they remain unfazed. Milky, polished skin and perfect legs, a height that matches his. And the aura is strong, could be felt from a mile away, uncaring and frightening.

Jimin’s heart has been snatched.

“I run a beauty salon, cute little shop on a corner street.” She smirks and scans you from head to toe for the fifth time. “You should come by some time. You’re a diamond in the rough, sweetheart. I don’t just make this offer to anyone.”

“T-thank you.” As you dip your head slightly in appreciation, your pupils flicker over. “Jimin?!”

His mouth is agape, staring at your companion who doesn’t even notice him. “Yoonji?”

When he races up to her and she immediately frowns, taking a step back from the grinning boy. His smile is dazzling despite being out of breath. You almost let out a sob. Jimin truly looks like an angel who has descended down from Heaven. “Who’s this Yoonji? I’m Min Yoonhee. Yoon - hee. Got that?”

But Yoongi’s youngest aunt doesn’t seem at all shaken by him. If anything, she rolls her eyes and points to him with her manicured nail. “You know this guy?”

“I-”

“I’m Park Jimin. Nice to meet you.” He puts out his hand and she shakes it with two of her fingers before letting go, wiping her skin on her jacket. “You must be new here? I can show you around if you’d like!”

“Nice try.” She scoffs. “I’ve been here done that. Not a student anymore.”

Jimin sways from side to side in a cheery mood, rolling on his toes. “Wow! Really? You look young! And you’re really pretty. I mean beautiful, not just pretty.”

She’s completely disinterested. “Uh-huh.”

“This is Yoongi’s aunt, Yoonhee.” You try to ease the tension, making a timid introduction. “She’s coming to visit. I think Yoongi might return soon-”

Jimin interrupts, like a puppy dog who just can’t wait to have a treat. “Can I have your number?” The way he asks isn’t in a tone that most would use to pick up girls, the greasy sleazeballs that catcall near dumpsters and sketchy convenience stores. It’s rather innocent and naive, like a cute middle schooler acting brazen towards a high schooler. He blinks with his big eyes, kind smile and a hopeful expression. Your own heart lurches out and if it were you, you’d write your number a million times and throw it in the air like confetti, screaming ‘yes!’.

“Fuck off.”

Yoonhee makes a ‘hmph’ sound and like a cold boss ass bitch, she spins on her heels and enters the gift shop of the university, disappearing from sight. At the same time, Yoongi’s exiting and he smiles at you. “Hey! My parents were asking-” His lips fall at the sight of Jimin.

When you whip your head over, you expect Jimin to be crying into his hands, his smashed heart disintegrating completely into ash. You envision him breaking down in public, the sweet smile of his broken forever. But instead….he’s grinning even wider...eyes following the backside of Yoonhee. He’s in love.

You wonder if he’s a masochist.

“Yoongi!” He reaches over and hugs the other man. “It’s been awhile. Where’s Yoonji? But actually..I was wondering...” Jimin nervously twiddles with his fingers. “Can I have your aunt’s number?”

“No.”

Yoongi takes your hand within his, bringing you away. You’re in a state of shock, merely moving after him. Jimin jumps, smiling brightly and he waves. “Okay, bye!”

How is it possible? What have you been doing wrong? Were you that inadequate that Jimin wouldn’t even look at you twice?

“Are you seriously still hung up on him?” Yoongi sighs, taking his foot and nudging the lump on your mattress. He kicks your butt gently and then plops down on his own bed. “He’s an idiot, alright? It’s not your fault. Nothing is. His loss.”

“No.” You softly whine despite it being a lie. You twist and turn, revealing just your face in the bundle of your covers. “Your parents are really nice.”

“They aren’t.” He takes a long drink from his water bottle. “I don’t know how you did it but they absolutely love you. Even Yoonhee.” He sulks and wipes his mouth. “How did you do it?”

“I don’t know.” You answer in honesty. “I really didn’t do anything.”

“You just acted like yourself…”

“Yeah.”

Now Yoongi can understand why. Even if you’re an idiot as well, you’re a lovable one.

Hating you would be no less than hating puppies or kittens. They’re helpless and so are you. Somehow you have the power of pulling people’s most protective and tender instincts out. It also relatively makes it more difficult for Yoongi to stay mad at you.

In the morning, you still refuse to budge out of your cocoon.

“Get up!” He attempts to tug the blanket away. “Just because it’s the weekend doesn’t mean you can stay here all day.” You don’t even answer him with words, just a strangled whine. “This is all because of Jimin, isn’t it?!”

You whimper. Yoongi gives up.

He swears under his breath, getting ready for the day and taking his belongings. You’re too much to deal with. And he has priorities. Studying in the library will give him a better outcome than worrying for your stupid and blind ass. But before the door is able to slam closed, your phone rings violently. Yoongi sighs and decides to pick up since you wouldn’t even flinch if the building was set on fire.

“Hello?”

“Y/N, sweetie? Is that you? Good news! We managed to switch our flight!”

A deeper man’s voice comes onto the other line. “We’re here! Surprise!”

The phone call ends abruptly after some fumbling, an accidental click of the button. Yoongi nudges you again and you don’t make a sound. Though as he drops the word ‘parents’ like a bomb, you jolt up, throwing off the blankets.

“What?”

They're standing at the entrance with the statues and the official sign, taking turns snapping pictures on their ancient camera, putting up their first two fingers and palm facing outwards in a v sign. They’re like tourists on a safari. But the minute your mom sees you, she stops posing and grins. “Mom! Dad-”

“Have you lost weight?!” Your dad wheezes dramatically. “Have they not been feeding you well here?!”

Your mom lifts up two totes full of tupperware. “Good thing we brought food with us! Home cooked meals from yours truly. There’s meat and rice and noodles.”

“That's a lot-”

“Some of it’s for Yoonji too!” Her eyes sparkle with interest. “Now where is that girl that you've been talking about?!”

Your dad laughs. “Your new best friend! Bestest roommate in the whole world. And here I thought I would forever stay as your best friend.”

“I can't leave without meeting her.” Your mother pushes your dad’s disappointed face out of the way, gaining your attention again. “We heard so much about her. I am so excited to see what kind of person took our sweetpea’s heart.”

They've always been like this. No matter what you do in life, even if you become a rich and successful CEO, the new Steve Jobs or a world renowned stripper, they’ll always make you feel like a little girl from the countryside. “When are you guys going?”

Your mother puts her hands on her hips. “Telling us to leave already? The audacity!”

“We’re only dropping by briefly.” Your dad laughs. “That cousin of yours is being chased by some of those ol’ loan sharks. We gotta travel half across town to beat some sense into him.”

Your eyes double, taken back by the news. It sounds serious but he said it so casually. “W-...will you be okay?! You want me to call the police?”

“Nonsense.” Your mother spits out. “Those loan sharks are your dad’s old friends from way back in...what was it?”

“High school.”

“Right. And that cousin of yours is puny. What’s he going to do? Step on our toes? But stop avoiding the subject! Where is this best friend of yours? I want to meet her before I go.”

“She’s busy.”

“What?” Your mother’s mouth opens large enough to a fly to die in. “Certainly not busy enough to not meet us, right? It’s not like we’re here everyday to visit you.”

Why must they be so relentless? “Yoon-”

“Y/N!” The familiar timbre voice ricocheting around the vacant grounds sends a chill up your spine. Your neck cranks around, already sensing the impending doom.

“Oh.” Your mother gasps again. “Is that your best friend?”

“It’s a man?!” Your father immediately and instinctively puffs out his chest as if he’s preparing to put on a facade of protection. “You never said it was a boy-”

“He’s handsome and cute.” A whisper leaves your mother’s lips, eyes following after the person whose coming closer and closer. “How did you do it, Y/N? He’s a bit on the short side but capable looking.” As Yoongi comes near, her irises light up like the galaxy's starlight has pooled in them. “You struck it big, Y/N! You’ve won the lottery!”

She turns to her husband, arms in the air. “She’s won the lottery!”

You thank the heavens and every deity that exists that no one’s around to be witness to your embarrassing parents. “We haven’t even met him yet!” Your father says spitefully. “Don’t be excited!”

“Don’t scare him away.” She commands, poking his shoulder with a pout. “Our daughter already does a good enough job scaring people away. Remember when she threw dirt at that neighborhood boy, Ricky? He cried and never came over to play again. I don’t need you to do that either.”

The bickering between them doesn’t quiet down and so you shush them harshly.

Yoongi is in a white, ironed button up. His top is tucked into his black dress pants and his hair is neat, face freshly washed. “Nice to meet you.” As he approaches, while still catching his breath, he bows his head. “Good afternoon, Mr. L/N and Mrs. L/N.”

“And you are?”

“Min Yoongi.” He lifts up his head, giving a gentle smile as his pupils flicker to you. “I’m Y/N’s good friend.”

“You’re Y/N’s friend?” Your mother fakes a shocked inhale. “The one we’ve heard about so much? Why it’s such an honour to meet you! We must’ve misheard on the phone then. It wasn’t Yoonji. It was Yoongi. I am so sorry for the mistake. You know how phone static can be, especially in the area I live in.”

“It’s no problem at all.”

Who is this person. You don’t know him at all. Where’s the grumpy Yoongi that ripped away your blankets and kicked your ass this morning?

Your father clears his throat. “You look like a strong, dapper, young fellow. Healthy?”

“Very.”

“Good.” Your mother interjects. “Please take care of our daughter. She can be so clumsy.”

You open your mouth to retort but Yoongi’s beaten you to it. “I will.” His arms are behind his back, shoulders broad and he wears the perfect smile, corners upturned pleasantly.

“Hold on a second…” You drag him away, clutching his wrist and walking ten steps from your parents. Your mother looks satisfied and your father is curious. Yoongi looks just as amused. You want to tear your hair out by the fistful. “What are you doing here?!”

Yoongi gives you a pout and he blinks, tilting his head. His expression reads ‘what do you mean?’ as if you’re attacking him for no reason whatsoever. You know he’s bluffing innocence. Min Yoongi is as far from being a little lamb as you are from being an evil dragon. “I told you I wanted to meet your parents.”

“As Yoonji! Not like this!”

“No. Exactly like this. I want to meet them as Yoongi.”

“But...why?”

“Because.” His face is unreadable, an intricate set of codes that your mind can’t analyze. He simply walks back to your parents, joining into their conversation and you drag yourself to him.

“What’s your major? What do your parents do? What do your job prospects look like?” She leans in, “are you thinking of marrying my daughter?”

“Mom! He’s just a friend!”

Yoongi tells your parents his major, what his own parents do, his family background and a vague outline of his future plans. “And I’m not sure if your daughter has any feelings for me.”

“But you might?”

“Mom!” You scream out in exasperation, cheeks puffing out and in a shade of fuschia. She responds ‘alright, alright’ and eases back. His eyes have pinned on you and he laughs at your reaction. You stare back at him incredulously. Yoongi’s so kind to them, understanding and patient that it boggles your brain.

Your mother soon asks to be escorted to the bathroom. When you notice that your father’s standing with his arms crossed next to Yoongi, you open your mouth. But upon having no solutions, you give up. As you walk away from the scene, you can only hope that your roommate won’t say something wrong and they won’t break out into a fight and kill each other.

“Oh ho ho…” Your father catches Yoongi’s eyes watching you. “You like that silly daughter of mine?”

“I uh-”

“You can’t fool me! I know those eyes anywhere! I was once a young boy too, you know! I’m aware of your intentions.”

It’s the first time that Yoongi’s ever been flustered and he shakes his head. “I...I don’t want her just for her bod-”

“You love her.” Your father doesn’t apprehend what the other man was trying to say. And Yoongi’s so thankful that he never said it out fully.

He replies without hesitation.

“I do.”

“Well I ain’t gonna give my blessings so easily. Hmph!” The middle aged person looks away childishly, reminiscent of how you can act sometimes. Yoongi looks up at him, blinking with his rounded orbs. His cheeks puff out and his lips naturally pout, a look that you’re weak for. “Don't look at me like that!”

It seems to work on your father as well.

“Like what, sir?”

“I can’t do it.” Your dad sighs tiredly, dropping his arms. Then, he smiles. “Did I play the role of a scary father well enough?” He pauses and then breathes out heavily. “Y/N’s our only child. We care about her. I hope you do too.”

“I do.”

“She’s probably giving you a hard time. Isn’t she?”

He answers in all honesty, “a little.”

“Then I don’t need to give you a hard time. You’re not a bad kid, kid. I can feel it.” He slaps his stomach. “Straight in my gut.”

Yoongi nods carefully. “Thanks?”

Then the two men find you running towards them at full speed, not wanting to miss out on what they’re discussing. You almost trip on your shoes and a rock but you catch yourself. Your dad chuckles and the younger man smiles at you. “I hope to see you sometime in the future.”

Yoongi looks at him and he continues, staring straight ahead. “The holidays or maybe Thanksgiving? Come visit.”

It feels strange.

Many things have been odd lately but walking alongside your best friend around campus as Yoongi and not Yoonji tops the list. It’s the way it makes you feel nervous, not from potentially getting caught, but from the way he looks at you every so often. And he doesn’t just look. His eyes linger. Yoongi gazes at you.

It’s the way you’ve fully become aware of the height difference, the low timbre of his voice when he murmurs to you, his calloused fingertips when it grazes against your skin. It’s the way butterflies have swooned in your stomach, your heart has picked up its pace and you’re hyper aware of each movement, hitching your breath. It’s the way his hands are larger than yours, secure when he catches your palm, holding it. Yet, like the way you know him, Yoongi’s acted like nothing’s happened, looking away and clearing his throat. At the same time, his fingers intertwine through yours and your grip tightens.

It feels like you're dancing on a line.

Not sure what to exactly call your relationship. Not sure how you feel about him. How he feels about you.

“Thank you.” You bite down the feeling of disappointment when he lets go and shuts the door to your dorm room. “I really appreciate you being nice to my parents. You didn’t really need to do all that.”

“Of course I would do it for you.” He scoffs, tugging off his shoes.

“You’re not really obligated to do that much for me.” You swallow hard, back facing him as you stand between both beds. “We’re only best friends.”

There’s a long silence.

When you turn around, the dim yellow light at the entryway and the glow of the street lamps outside seeping in, provide you with enough luminescence to see the frown and hurt written across his features. “Yoongi?”

The tension is thick. It feels like you’re suffocating, wrapped around in close intimacy, not knowing what to call the person who stands before you. Despite being a meter away, he’s gotten too close. Since when did this happen?

His voice croaks out in a pained murmur - “Why are you so stupidly dense?”

“What?”

“I’m insanely-” He takes one step closer. “ -attracted to you.” Another step closer. “So much so that it drives me crazy.” One more step. “And I don’t want to just kiss you.” He takes the last step, standing right in front of you. Yoongi’s a mere hair away. His soft whispers are deafening, echoing in the hollows of your mind. “I want so much more.”

For the first time in your life, you’re a witness to Yoongi being on the verge of tears.

You can finally see him. “I do want you."

“Do you want me because I’m Yoonji, your best friend?”

“No-”

“Because I’m your roommate who happens to be a male?” He chokes up and blinks past his foggy eyes, looking up at the ceiling before at you again. “Just because you’re attracted to me? Would any other man aside from me do? Or do you want me as Min Yoongi?”

“I-”

“And what about Jimin?” He chuckles breathlessly. “It’s so annoying. You’re annoying.”

“What?”

“Every time that guy is brought up, you forget about everything.” For a split second, you would think Yoongi’s acting irrationally jealous but you know him too well to think that. He’s genuinely hurt. “About us.”

“You wouldn’t be longing for another person if you wanted me for me.” Yoongi stares at you, his warm brown irises pleading for an honest answer, for you to open your heart up. “Do you want me, Y/N?”

“And not just me but as a boyfriend, someone that I can hold and love openly. Because if it’s you….I don’t think I can handle anything less than that.”

The explosion has detonated. The final words have been spoken. White noise plays in your ear. Yoongi steps back, leaving the room. You’re left with the pieces of your own emotions. His heart sewn, truest and most sincere declaration permeating into your skin.

Time has stopped.

Yoongi doesn’t return. You’re not sure where he stays or where he goes, especially when he’s not in the form of Yoonji and could become easily caught. You don’t get a wink of sleep that night either, but when morning comes, you decide to leave. If Yoongi wasn’t coming back because you were around, then you’ll make sure to disappear.

“God, it’s so difficult being me.” Seokjin opens the door, shutting it behind him. He puckers his lips in his handheld mirror, smiling his dazzling grin before the reflection finds a small curled up person in the corner, hair over their face. He screeches, jumping like a flailing fish while he spins around. “Mother fucke- I mean….Y/N?”

Your eyes peek from the curtain of your locks. “Hey….Seokjin.”

“Are you crying?” The narcissistic, school idol puts down his mirror, collapsing onto the floor in front of you. “Do you need me to sing to make you feel better?”

“No!” You jolt your hands out instantly. “I...I’m fine.”

“Where’s Yoonji?” He looks around, scanning the premise but the somber classroom is completely empty.

A whimper leaves your voice, “why?”

“You’re always with her.” He retorts with a huff before running a hand through his hair. “And aside from me, the best looking one in this school, the second in line for looks has to be her. I can’t deny Yoonji’s attractiveness.” He leans in closer with a sly smirk. “Don’t you think we’d make such a perfect couple?”

You giggle at his blind confidence and he seems to have an ego boost from your laughter.

Jin leans in even closer to you. “You want to hear my vocal training? I can go up to really high pitches.”

“I’m okay.”

He nods and inclines back. “Do you think I’m attractive, Y/N? Attractive enough for Yoonji?”

“Well.” For now your mind has been taken off the situation at hand and you decide to entertain Seokjin for a while. “She’s hard to impress.”

“Look at these rings.” He lifts both his hands and flutters his fingers. “Do you know how wealthy I am? How expensive these pieces are? One thousand dollars.” He slips one off his thumb, placing it in front of you. “Two thousand.” He places a silver band down. “Three thousand.” He places yet another and another, naming the prices off the top of his head.

You wonder if he’s insane. If he’s just saying random numbers out loud or if he’s truly that careless to be taking them off. A thought flashes through your mind that if it were Yoonji, she’d grab the jewelry and book it to a store, cashing them in without batting an eyelash.

“You know…” Jin finally looks up, meeting your eyes. “You’re really pretty up close.” You visibly gulp, questioning where this was coming from. The college boy even leans in, flickering his pupils to your lips and for a moment, you’re afraid he’s going to kiss you. But then he smiles.

“I’m prettier though.”

You scoff lightly and he grins, squeaky laughter leaving his mouth like a child’s toy. Seokjin slips back on his rings and he looks up at you again. “I know why you were crying.”

“You do?”

He pauses for the dramatic effect and then breathes in sharply, whipping his head back. “You were crying because you realized you could never be as beautiful as I, Kim Seokjin, the very best.”

“That’s-”

You never got to spoke much to Jin but he was not unlike the others. Very bold and shameless but also very bizarre, dare you even say….weirdo.

“It’s okay. I understand what it’s like. I’ve cried in front of the mirror before too. I asked how could someone be so gorgeous. Let me show you what I mean.” He suddenly bolts up and in the dark empty classroom with only sunlight coming in through the windows, he slowly walks backwards. “The moonwalk.” Then he twirls. “The spin.” His hips have a seizure. “Hip thrust.”

The odd man reminds you of the type of person your mom constantly told you to stay away from as a child. “Bam.” He does finger guns and you fake an expression of distaste. “Don’t lie to yourself. I can see you smiling, girl.” Jin flips his hair back. “I know I’m good, you don’t have to deny it.”

He takes your hand and hauls you up, making you stand on your feet. And you’re about to thank him but he suddenly pulls out your palm, ripping a pen out from his pocket. “If you wanted my attention, you should’ve just asked for it instead of stalking me and waiting for a chance like this.”

“I wasn’t-” You’re interjected by the ticklish feeling, pen tip gliding on your skin.

“Here’s my number.” He gives you back your limb and you stare down at the scribbles. “Call me anytime.” Jin winks and he opens the door again after his spectacular performance, feeling good about himself. “Oh, make sure Yoonji gets it too.”

You nod stiffly. “Okay.”

As you make your way to the bathroom, ready to scrub off the inscription, you ponder if Jin was truly that strange or if he was trying to make you feel better. If it’s the latter then he succeeded.

“Hoseok?” He’s leaning against the wall, staring out the window with tear droplets cascading down his face. He doesn’t notice you until you shake him. “Are you alright-”

“Oh. It’s just you.” The poignant man wipes away his tears. “I was reading this poem and it churned the deepest emotions within my soul. It touched me to the very core. Open your ears, let me read it for you.”

You can’t walk away. Not when he’s opening his mouth and beginning. “The Dumb Girl.”

And immediately you feel insulted by the title. Was this a personal attack?!

“Hey-”

“Mute. Tongue twisted, tongue tied.” He sighs helplessly, shaking his head. “She could not give an answer. Like the spins of a ballet dancer. Yes. No. Yes. No. Time was let flow. Until he cannot wait. Left it to fate. And thus her lover, fell for a dancer.”

“Heartbroken for she had not spoken. Regret like the cold sweat of a burnt out cigarette.” Hoseok’s voice increases in volume and passion, not caring about the broken cracks in his voice. “Forget; she tried! Forget; she screamed! Forget; she desired! But she could not. For the arms that once wrapped around her, the sweet whispers of the monsieur, were all far from being a blur.”

“Mute she was. Regrets became her laws. For time never takes on pause.”

Hoseok finishes and you’re on the verge of tears. Right when you were about to forget about the whole incident with Yoongi and your friendship now standing on a thin line, the turmoil inside, the answers you hadn’t given...they all come tumbling back.

“Beautiful poem, isn’t it?” Hoseok muses with a look of melancholy. Then, he decides to rip out the entire page of his literature book. You wonder if he was trying to look artistic. If so, he was failing.

“Take it.” Hoseok clutches your hand, putting the paper between your fingers. “It looks like you need beauty in your life at this moment.” He taps the back of your back, urging you forward while he disappears.

You take a hard left, exiting out of the hallway before someone can see you break down.

Unfortunately, you aren’t so lucky today. It seems like you’ve been having terrible luck; horoscope gone bad, tarot reader pulling out the death card and black cats hissing at you.

When you’re making your escape, none other than Jeon Jungkook catches you and follows. “It’s not like I care but it would be annoying if I went about my day and thought about it later.” He mutters under his breath, opening the door to find you sitting on the edge of the emergency staircase. “Hey you!”

You turn around, sniffling and he softens his tone. Jungkook scratches the back of his neck, letting the door close behind him. He takes two steps and slumps down, sitting beside you. The man rubs his palms together and takes one peek; confused at the way you rub your eyes, sniffle and your shoulders that tremble.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“N-nothing.”

“Liar.” He calls out instantly, voice ricocheting through the empty staircase. “Tell me the truth, alright? I don’t want to waste any of my time. I got things to do….just say it.”

“I-...” You downcast your head to your hands in your lap. “I’m an idiot. I hurt my best friend all this time and didn’t know. I was blind! And I drove them away and now they’re gone!”

Jungkook scoffs. “You’re not an idiot. But maybe you are for calling yourself one.” You whimper, holding back from crying and Jungkook rests his chin in his hand. “They’ll come back.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Cause you’re you.” He scoffs again, redirecting his brown irises to look at your face. He seems to study it for awhile until he breaks the silence. “You look ugly when you’re upset.”

He peels off his jacket and drapes it over your head, covering you from potential eyes that could bore into you if they were to open the door. And with the fabric, you’re no longer shaking or shivering. “Stop crying. It makes you look even uglier.”

“Thank you…”

“Don’t thank me.” He coughs awkwardly. “It’s just burdensome to see someone cry. But if you want to show me your gratitude, hook me up with Yoonji. Of course, it’s not like I care about her either but you know, I would be bothered if I knew I didn’t give her a chance.”

You giggle behind the jacket, soaking in the warm moment of sitting next to Jungkook on a stairway, listening to his peculiar comforting words.

“Y/N!” Someone calls your name and you smile, swiveling around. The jacket’s still draped on your head but more so as a hat or hood at this point, revealing your face. Jimin’s angelic smile materializes in front of you and you dwell in his radiance.

“Hey, Jimin. How are you?”

“I’m good, how are you?” He asks with the same politeness, crinkled crescent eyes and a faint dimple marking one side of his cheek. He’s a celestial being, sweet and kind, adorable and beautiful. The gentle smile and tender aura in his brown-honey hued irises could cure diseases.

He’s the love of your life, every trait you could ever wish for in a lifelong companion. The wishes you had made upon stars as a child, the rubbing of lamps and imaginations of genies, the other side of the wedding aisle - he’s what you dreamed of. “I’m good too.”

“Have you seen Yoonji?”

But never once has he spared you an ounce of attention.

“I don’t know.”

Never once has Jimin looked at you twice, considered you different from the strangers in his life.

“Oh. Okay!” He begins walking away, waving to you. “I’ll see you later then.”

How could you have been so blind?

Even if Jimin is the manifestation of all your teenage daydreams and the epiphany of the boy you drew in the corner of your crumpled homework pages, he isn’t the one. He has always been and always will be the person you were merely infatuated with, the crush and nothing more.

You don’t love Jimin.

“Hey! You!” A shout makes him turn. He smiles at the person running towards him.

“I was looking for you, Yoonji!” Jimin perks up and lolling his head. “Actually, I was going to ask you, and I hope you don’t mind….where your youngest aunt’s beauty salon is.” The cute boy pouts and he stands on his toes, swaying back and forth nervously. He pinches a few strands of his blonde hair and looks upwards with his rounded orbs. “I’m in need of a haircut.”

“Do you know where Y/N is?!” Yoongi hyperventilates, having run all the way from the dormitory to campus when he didn’t find you in the room. “Jimin!”

“Oh! I just saw her.” He hums out with a smile. “But your aunt...Yoonhee….”

“Fine! Fine!” Yoongi gives it up, furiously taking off his backpack to rip a page animalistically out of his notebook. It’s completely jagged but he doesn’t care as he uncaps the pen with his mouth, scribbling out an address onto the sheet, using his propped up knee as a table.

It’s a very unladylike posture and you would certainly scold him if you were here since he’s in a skirt and all.

“Thank you so much!” Jimin launches himself over to the other, wrapping his arms around as his hands holds onto the paper tightly. “You’re the best Yoonji!”

Yoongi cringes and peels him away. “Tell me where Y/N is.”

It’s embarrassing. You feel humiliated.

There’s a number graffitied on your hand, the ink completely smudged. In your other hand is a ripped page of a badly written poem. There’s a random jacket over your head, draping you like it’s a makeshift umbrella, except it’s a sunny day outside. And your cheeks are tear stained.

Yoongi holds back a laugh. Your face reads: ‘Why did you leave me?! Look what happened!!’

“Y/N-”

“You had your turn!” You pick up the volume in your voice, pointing at him. “Now it’s mine.”

The seams of his lips meet, silenced at your abrupt loudness. It’s very rare to see you act aggressively. Though, it’s not menacing in the least bit. There’s still a pout at your lips.

“You will always be my best friend. No matter what. It’ll never change. One day, you might not be my roommate anymore but friendship lasts forever!” When you realize people are staring at your shouting confessions, you quiet down. Yoongi chuckles and you skedaddle closer to him.

“Bros before hoes, sisters before misters, friends for life.”

“Isn’t this embarrassing?” He leans down to whisper in your ear, matching your height. Your entire face answers his sentiment but you grumble and he chuckles. “Continue…”

“I love Yoonji. My female friend, the one I met on the very first day.” You look right at him, letting a single smile slip across your features. “But I love Yoongi as well.”

“I’ll accept you for whoever you are. My best friend…...and my boyfriend.”

The words sink in. There’s a long three second, three heartbeats that passes by. Yoongi blinks at you, once and then twice. You wonder if you’ll have to repeat yourself. But then he suddenly wraps his arms around your waist, picking you up with ease and he spins around. “Finally!”

You laugh with him. To outsiders, it may look like two close friends sharing a happy celebration or rejoicing together in a joyful achievement. But to you and to Yoongi, your dearest friend, this marks the beginning of something special, a change that will no longer make you the dumb girl who was blinded and could never give an answer, who let regret become her laws.

Time begins to move again.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEE-

Yoongi whines and in a disgruntled motion, reaches out his arm to shut the alarm clock off. As he’s about to drift off again, you shuffle the covers around, unattaching yourself from his grasps. His lids slowly peek open and you’re staring at him with a dazzling smile, one that’s too excited for the early morning and so silly that it makes his heart stutter. You press a light kiss to his cheek and leap up into the air.

“Time to get up!”

He would complain. He would yell at how that damn alarm clock always scares the shit out of him every morning and sounds like a war siren, making him want to smash it on the ground or throw it out the window. He would curse on how you moved too much, woke him up when he didn’t want to wake up, how the sudden absence of your warm body now makes him feel cold. He would grumble of how you’re way too happy in the mornings and how he had to face your morning breath. But still…

You kissed him. So, he’s not really going to complain at all.

“Fine.” Every muscle in his body aches but he still gets up anyway. “Good morning.”

Your silly smile still shines brightly. “Morning!”

The daily routine doesn’t differ that much from when you were solely two friends and you called him by the name of ‘Yoonji’. Though a few things have changed. Very much so.

“Can you stop looking?” You huff out, feeling your bare backside being penetrated with his eyes. A long time ago, he would’ve ran away when you chased him in your naked glory, when you even exposed an inch of skin. He might’ve let his eyes wander once, only to catch a glimpse. But now, he was full on staring. And you could feel his pupils and the heavy weight of his breaths. “Are you actually getting aroused-”

“I’m disappointed.”

His sharp syllables slap you across the face. Your fingers that were buttoning up the ruffled blouse halt. Your neck swings around so fast, it might’ve snapped. “What?”

Yoongi smirks. The boy with the sleepy eyes and disheveled hair, has the audacity to laugh at your shocked state when he, himself, looks like a mess...an adorable mess, if you were being honest.

“I’m disappointed in myself.” He continues to smirk, standing up and taking two long strides to you. “I can’t believe I keep forgetting how pretty you are.”

If you were in your sane mind, maybe you’d gag at the greasy line. But when it’s Yoongi...when it’s him looking at you like that with such soft eyes and a fond smile, your heart can only pathetically run faster as if into the arms of the man you see before your eyes.

You’re whipped. And so is Yoongi.

He kisses you briefly on the lips, a simple peck and then he leans in to whisper into your ear. “Too bad I’m prettier.”

There’s the Yoongi you know.

Even to this day, as you’re pulling up a pencil skirt, adjusting your cute outfit in the mirror, you can’t help but let your eyes flicker over. He’s always had better legs than you and his skin has been clearer, his pretty lashes-

“Can you stop staring?” He lifts up his brow, chuckling at the way you’re licking your lips while staring at his crotch covered by a thin fabric of his boxers. When you realize where your irises have instinctively traveled, you let out a ‘hmph’, twisting on your toes to go into the bathroom.

He joins you a few second after, taking the toothbrush with the set toothpaste that you prepared at the same time as your own. You both brush your teeth in synchronized motions without speaking, blinking the sleep away from your eyes. Then like children, you fight for the use of the sink, spitting it out and rinsing your mouth while trying to wash your face properly.

“You don’t need to impress anyone anymore.” Yoongi blatantly ogles at your ass as you’re leaning against the counter, getting closer to the mirror. He’s pissing in the background and you wrinkle your nose.

“I still have to look presentable.” You cover your dark circles with concealer, skipping out on a whole bunch of products, the bottles with thick pigments abandoned. You used to cake up your face, covering each flaw and blemish in case you’d run into Jimin but now things are different.

Your skin can finally breathe - you don’t have five coats of mascara on, a centimeter-thick layer of foundation on your face and a procedure that lasted up to an hour. You finally look like yourself.

“Are you using hair rollers?” You look at him through the mirror in disbelief.

Yoongi has them in his hair, the bangs of his wing curling with the blue roller. “So what? I need to look presentable as well.” Without a care, he takes the blow dryer and whisks it around the strands.

You scoff, hating how he looks so beautiful without even needing to try.

“Done! How do I look?” You're standing at the entryway, slipping on your shoes and ready to leave. You pucker your lips again, checking that you applied the rose shade evenly.

Yoongi blinks at you, once, twice with his rounded and innocent eyes. He tilts his head to the side and when you’re about to open your mouth to tell him ‘nevermind’, he suddenly grabs a hold of your cheeks, pulling you in and kissing you. You gasp before reacting back to him, letting your shoulders lose the tension, melting into his grasps. After a few seconds, he lets go of you and the freshly applied lipstick now stains his own lips.

“That was expensive, you know.” You whimper with a pout, the hue now smeared and missing from certain corners, lips swollen from how it was before.

“Kill two birds with one stone.” Yoongi hums in satisfaction, taking his pinky finger to spread the colour, pursing his mouth. A heat flushes up your face when you realize that he’ll be walking around nonchalantly as gorgeous Yoonji, the pink of his lips directly transferred from your own.

The evidence of your smooch session will be presented to the world and no one will know but the two of you. At best if someone does notice, they’ll think you shared the product like any other friends would. Though, it’s not in the innocent way that friends typically share. “Let’s go.”

You’ve never been happier.

Perhaps it’s the way that your love is returned, that someone cherishes you the way you cherish them. You’re not chasing after someone, helplessly hoping, pinning for their affections. Maybe you’re just in a new stage of a fluttering romance, allowing your heart to swoon over simple words. Your world is covered in rose tinted glasses.

But every time Yoongi holds your hand underneath the desk in class, how he twines his fingers through yours boldly when you walk through halls, steals glimpses of you across from the table at the library - it makes you feel warm...blissful...happy.

And it’s not just because it’s a new romance, not due to your feelings being returned, not that anything will make you this way from your rose coloured universe.

It’s because it’s Yoongi.

“I think I’d still love you if you were Yoonji.”

“Yeah?” He smiles down at his papers, one hand using to rest his head in while the other holds the pencil.

“As long as you’re you…” It’s a bit embarrassing to say it aloud. Hence, you keep your own eyes on the lines between your textbook. “...and I realized that we weren’t just best friends, the outcome would’ve been the same.”

“Hey. You have something on your chin.” He interrupts and you urgently look up at him then down, trying to reach your hand to the skin.

“I do?”

Yoongi nods and then he reaches over the table, grabbing your chin into his hand to plant a kiss right at your lips. You’re just as stunned when he pulls away. “It’s gone.”

A few people who had caught the action giggles and whistles at the sight. The librarian sharply tells them to hush. Yoongi pretends nothing’s happened, focusing back on his studies.

You blush from the tips of your toes to the top of your head, wondering how you’ll ever be able to study with him in a mile radius from you.

Your best friend-slash-boyfriend has never been known for being sweet. In fact, your roommate has been known for being bitter. Of course, you’ve always been aware of the underlying moments, the softness underneath the prickly skin. And he’s become even more gentle to you ever since the relationship has been officially established.

His name could become sugar for all you cared.

But Yoongi was still merciless, unyielding and harsh when he needed to be.

“Sto-...p hold...ing back your-…. noises.” He scolds through breathless pants. The both of you had been making out for the past twenty minutes, a string of saliva broken as he parts away from you, swollen lips to show the intensity.

You’re not sure how you got into this position, with Yoongi leaning against the headboard and you, perched on his muscular thigh, straddling him. Before this, there’s only been petting, with his hands travelling up the expanse of your skin, groping at your breasts past your bra and your fingers twisted through the strands of his hair. But today, after stumbling into the dorm room from classes and from hour long lingering stares, the pair of you have difficulty holding back.

“But the others…” You inhale to fill your lungs. “They’ll hear us.”

He smirks. “Let them hear.”

The feeling of his calloused fingertips dancing across your smooth skin sends shivers to your spine. He kisses you again before moving down to your neck, marking it in black and blue hues with hard sucks. You let a strangled moan out, trying to keep quiet for the thin walls. Yoongi gropes and touches you, examining each inch, searching and feeling. You move your hands down to his thighs, thankfully exposed with his skirt that’s now hiked up as well as yours.

Without realizing and with his hand squeezing your ass, hot mouth moving down to your collarbone, you begin rocking yourself against Yoongi’s thigh.

It promptly jolts pleasure into your skin, fulfilling your throbbing core. The thin fabric of your panties is the only thing that covers the direct skin-to-skin contact and it’s already completely drenched, molding to the shape of the lips and folds. “Fuck.”

He squeezes harder and rests his forehead on your shoulder, relishing in the feeling of your wetness sliding on his skin, how you’re getting yourself off using him but without him needing to move a single centimeter. Yoongi clenches his muscle and shifts it slightly, making you whine louder.

Your boyfriend braces himself for another second, ignoring the tent in his underwear before his hand finds the dips in your waist, halting you. “We should stop.”

“Why?” You immediately cry out, embracing him and pulling him flush against your warmed body. “Do...do you really want to stop?”

“Because…” Yoongi exhales staggeringly. “I-...I don’t want to hurt you.”

“But I’m ready. I’m ready, Yoongi. Please.”

When he asks you again if you’re sure, confirming if what he’s hearing is right and he tucks a strand of hair away from your face, you nod and reply with a firm ‘yes’. He smiles and kisses you again. “I want you to be loud. Don’t be afraid to hold back your sounds. I want to hear you.”

“Okay.”

“Good girl.” He praises, smoothing out your hair in gentle motions. Then, something flickers in his eyes and he rips off your blouse. You laugh at how eager he is and you take the opportunity to strip him of his shirt, disposing it to the ground where the wig lays.

Your lips meet his and he lays a hand on your lower back, making you lay down as he removes your skirt and underwear along with his own. “This is so embarrassing.” You cover your face up before moving it down to your crotch and arm covering your exposed chest.

“You know I’ve seen you get changed? Like probably a hundred times already.”

“Well...It’s different!”

“Is it?” He smiles, positioning himself over you.

“Yes!” You stammer out, looking into his eyes and pouting. “You’re...touching me.”

Yoongi moves another piece of hair away from your face, gazing at you lovingly. “Which is okay, right?”

“It’s okay.” You echo back. “But…” Yoongi pauses at that word and becomes serious. “I’d like to touch you for a change.”

He takes a sigh of relief before sitting back on the mattress, hands balancing his leaning body. Your boyfriend smirks at you. “Go ahead. Be my guest.”

You swallow hard, sitting up and feeling his stare bore holes through your skin. Your hand shakes as you drag down the remaining article of clothing on him, throwing the boxers to the ground. Then, you’re met with a red leaking cock - the one from your dreams, quiet literally. But he’s much bigger than you anticipated.

You slowly wrap your hands around him, a feather light touch and Yoongi seems to become eager, twitching every time your skin makes contact with his. “It’s alright. Like this.” He wraps your hand around yours, setting a pace up and down his length, pumping him before he lets go.

You marvel at his member, how it’s been hidden all the time and you’ve never seen it before until this very moment. The precum is already spread across, making your movements more fluid. His girth feels thick in your hand and you mindlessly mumble out your thoughts. “I don’t think it’s going to fit, Yoongi.”

“Fuck.” He throws his head back, brows furrowed and eyes shut tight. You peel your eyes away from his cock to admire his expression, how he’s completely withering in your hands. It feels powerful, amazing and you speed up, having a sudden desire to lick it.

“Are you going to cum?”

“No!” Yoongi suddenly flashes his eyes open, frowning at you. “Why would I be finished so quickly? It’s just the way you said that-”

“Can I put you in my mouth?” The minute the request leaves your throat, he shuts up real quick. Yoongi stares at you, his adam’s apple bobs up and down as he gulps. You decide to tease him further. “But I wouldn’t want you to finish right away….so….”

“I’ll spank you.” His orbs darken, threatening you.

You scoff at him. “No, you wouldn’t.”

Yoongi raises an eyebrow. There are sparks, each of you challenging each other. Without answering or retorting, he suddenly lurches out, flipping you onto your stomach.

“You know, I want to take care of you but you make it so damn difficult, Y/N. Why do you have to be such a little brat sometimes and test me?” He makes a firm command, the deep timbre of his voice rumbling in your ears. “Raise your hips.”

You comply and he spanks you once, his palm kissing the skin of your ass in one motion. It’s not too hard but not too light either as if he’s testing the waters out and your reaction to it. “Do you know how long I had to go with you walking around naked?”

Yoongi spanks you for a second time, a bit harder and leaving you tingling. You whimper with pleasure into the pillow, muffling the sound. “How many times I had to jerk it off in the shower because of your teasing?”

At this point, you’ve become hot and bothered. The slickness of your core is beginning to make its way down your thigh. “I was in there every single day for way too long because of you.” He spanks you for a third time, harder and making you moan.

“Yoongi.”

His palm massages the area, soothing the redness and easing the sting. He doesn’t want to push you too far when it’s the first time. And so, he flips you over again, appearing over you and caging you in with his arms. “You’re lucky I like you so much.”

He descends, becoming closer to your throbbing clit. “Can I?” His brown eyes meet yours.

You hum. “You can.” Your boyfriend laps around your folds, sucking on the part you need him most, soft lips on your clit. You moan louder, shutting your eyes tight with your back arching off the mattress, head pushing against the pillow. Yoongi hums in contentment from your response and the vibrations hitches your breath. “It feels so good, Yoongi.”

He licks and sucks, using the warmth and wet muscle of his tongue to spread you apart, going deeper. Your voice increases without even realizing, hands buried in his hair, forcing him closer.

“I’m going to use my fingers.” Yoongi pants, mouth drenched from your juices and making you go bright pink.

“Wait.” You hold his locks before he can dive in again. “Is it going to hurt?”

His blown out pupils soften for a second, half-lidded eyes staring back into yours. “I promise I’ll go slow.” The pad of his finger run up and down your folds, collecting your fluid and with caution, he gently pushes in. Yoongi checks for your reaction and when you nod, he begins to pump in and out with his one finger.

It’s a stretch, a pleasant one that is different from your own hand. “Is that okay?”

“Yeah.” You manage breathlessly and Yoongi connects his mouth back, sucking again. The tension builds and builds in your lower stomach, the invisible knot tightening. He increases with another finger and you almost burst. You’re nearly there. “Yoongi. Yoongi.” He knows by the trembling of your thighs cinched around his head that you’re close. As much as he loves hearing his name being sobbed out of your mouth, he detaches himself from you.

You cry out from the loss but he comforts you, running a hand through your hair. “Are you okay so far?”

“Yes! Yes. I’m good.” The tears prick at your eyes and though it’s kind of him to keep asking, you’re becoming impatient. “Just please. Hurry?”

“Condoms, condoms!” Yoongi hops to his feet and nearly trips. You giggle at how oddly clumsy he is, frantic like you’ve never seen before from the usual calm demeanor. His hair is ruffled, panic set in his expression, completely bare and naked and vulnerable in front of you.

After a good second of staring at him in a disarray, you finally tell him. “It’s under the bed.”

Yoongi falls down onto his knees, searching for the box with his outstretched arm. When he finds it, he grins and takes one of the hundred packages out. He suddenly is reminded of the first time you met him, how you entered the dorm in confusion and nervousness, spilling a hundred condoms onto the floor. The endearing memory makes him smile.

“Yoongi?”

“Yeah, hold on.”

He leaps up again after securing the rubber, pouncing at you. You laugh, rolling around until he has you pinned underneath him. Yoongi coos at you, making sure everything’s alright and you reassure him before the head of his cock is brushing against your folds, making you two let out a sigh. He pushes in gently, groaning at your heat and the tightness but still holding back, making sure that you’re taking it well. You pause for a bit until you’re ready to urge him on and he bottoms out.

“You’re so good.” He kisses your forehead. “Y/N.”

Your arms wrap around his back and he gently pushes your knees against your abdomen, causing you to feel him at a deeper angle. You let out a whimper, telling him to move and he complies.

“I wish I could push my cum back into you. You’d like that wouldn’t you?” He plunges in deep before withdrawing, setting a slow pace.

You nod against his shoulder. “I-I would.”

“You’d be filled all the way up, spilling but I’d make sure that it would stay in. As much as it could and I’d send you off, make you walk around campus with your cunt filled with my cum.” His dirty words whisper sweetly into your ear and it sends scorching heat to where you’re connected. The pain has outweighed the pleasure, causing you to become less stiff, enjoying the feeling and the moment, Yoongi’s touch that you crave for.

His sweaty hair sticks to his skin, an expression of deep concentration and a grunt that comes from his throat when he picks up the pace. “I’d like to see the look on Park Jimin’s face then. Or Kim Taehyung’s.”

Yoongi becomes rougher, faster and you gasp, clawing at him. “You...you should..do it.”

“Maybe next..time.” He smiles. “Wouldn’t want you to get pregnant. But I’m sure you’d carry my babies, real well, huh?”

“They’d…” You have no idea what you’re talking about, how you managed to move on to such a serious conversation about children but the thought of carrying Yoongi’s, makes you twist underneath him. “...be cute kids.”

“Damn straight, they would be.” His words are both filthy and soothing, dripping with honey and sharp like a cutting edge. One second he’s talking about bending you over the desk, making you cry and orgasm so hard you won’t even know your own name. The next, he’s murmuring about having children with you, how he hopes they’ll be like you and how he could do this again and again for the rest of his life if you want to be with him.

“After this, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to keep my hands off of you.” Yoongi’s hot breath fans across the bruises on your neck. “I won’t be able to touch anyone else but you. We’d be like rabbits or dogs in heat. You’d carry a litter of my pups, how does that sound?”

“Cute.” You mewl out with a cry of his name when he hits a particular spot that makes your vision go blurry. “I..I like it.”

“I bet you do.” Yoongi forces himself up to kiss your lips. “Maybe some time in the future.”

Wait. Does that mean he actually wants to have kids with you?

The thought that has you smiling doesn’t last long when his hips begin to sputter against yours, going out of control, purely to reach both of your highs. Yoongi’s fingers move down, circling around your clit. You cry out for him and he goes even faster. “I’m going to cum.”

“Go ahead. You can do it.” With a soft encouragement, the tension and knot in your lower stomach snaps, your vision having spots as euphoria washes over. You’re in a daze for a good five seconds, almost losing consciousness from the overwhelming feeling. From your walls caving in, Yoongi also loses it, trying his best to draw out both your orgasms.

He collapses on top of you and when you tell him he’s too heavy, he rolls off.

“Are you okay? Was that okay? Are you hurt anywhere?” He eyes your bruises, patting your hair. You hum and he lays there with you, cuddling your body against his for a full minute, feeling like a pleasant eternity. As you’re about to drift off to sleep, let the exhaustion seep into your bones, Yoongi gets up and disposes the condom. Then, he collects you in his arms, carrying you bridal style.

“What? Where are we going?” You complain, eyes fluttering. Yoongi kicks down the bathroom door, lifting up the toilet seat and setting you down.

“Pee.” He instructs. “It’s good for you. You have to do it after sex or else you might get a UTI.”

You pout, listening to him and cringing when he stares at you as you release your bladder. “I can do it on my own….” You wipe yourself and flush. He says an ‘uh-huh’ but when you get up to the sink, the aches in your muscles and in your core scream out. You stagger and Yoongi chuckles, though he shuts up when you shoot him a glare.

After washing your hands with soap and drying them off, he lifts you up and sets you on the counter. Yoongi wipes you down and then wipes himself down, doing it with the utmost care, apologizing when you flinch from the feeling of overstimulation. Afterwards, he carries you back to bed.

You’re sure Yoongi’s just as tired as you are since he appears sleepy, rubbing his eyes and blinking hard. Nonetheless, he thoroughly completes the aftercare process when he grabs a shirt from his wardrobe, helping you put your sore arms through the holes of his shirt. You lay down as he tucks you in with him, pulling the covers up to your chins.

You mold yourself against him, nuzzling your kind boyfriend. “Thank you.”

Yoongi hums, letting you kiss him before the two of you sleep the night away.

Kim Taehyung skips with his feet, arms behind his back. After being trapped in his laboratory, staring at screens and monitors, now he had some free time. He had slept for a good amount of that time but there were still hours left where he could do anything of his choosing. Sadly, he had gone around looking for you but you were gone, not in your dormitory, not in the classrooms he peeked his head into….

It was peculiar. You and him had gone out a few times together to investigate Yoonji and Jimin. But bizarrely Jimin wasn’t going out with Yoonji anymore. Taehyung tried to wrap his head around it and when he asked his roommate, Jimin simply said that he found someone even more beautiful.

Anyways, now that Jimin was out of the way, Taehyung totally had a chance with Yoonji!

He’d definitely swoop that girl off her feet, make his move but when he looked for you to devise the next course of plans, get advice on what to do - he couldn’t find you nor your best friend.

Thus, he’s heading to the humongous library towards the abandoned romance section to see if there’s a book he can pick up; a guide on how to woo the ladies.

But what he hears at the back of the bookcases is...whimpering?

Like a detective, Taehyung pushes his lensless glasses closer up the bridge of his nose and stalks the sound. He gasps. This eyelashes bat back and forth when catches Yoonji’s backside and you - on your knees, face buried in your best friend’s crotch?!

The sound of his inhale draws attention and the both of you turn around. After a second, you peek your head out, eyes widening. “Taehyung?!” You look completely surprised and your cheeks are flushing. Yoonji, on the other hand, is completely unfazed.

“What were you-”

“My shirt was stuck in my skirt zipper.” Yoonji points to the silver zipper, lifting up the fabric sightly and flashing a bright smile. “Y/N was just helping me out.”

“Oh…” That makes sense. He nods and grins a boxy smile as he looks at you. “I was actually looking for you, Y/N! I need your help-”

Your best friend rests weight on one foot, leaning back and crossing his arms. “She’s busy.” He takes your hand and begins walking away. Taehyung nods and waves.

“I-I guess I’ll catch you later then…”

When Taehyung’s out of sight, Yoongi lightly spanks you. You gulp, scanning the premise and luckily no one’s around. He smirks and mutters in your ear, “we’re finishing this later…”

Meanwhile, Taehyung sits himself down on the floor, a stack of books next to him on how to capture women’s hearts. He reads intently for hours, soaking in the information on how to be a bad boy to a gentleman. His head throbs at the contrasting details, not sure which is credible and which isn’t. The genius hasn’t had a moment like this in his life where things didn’t make sense.

He wishes you were here right now.

“Hmm….that’s weird.” His mind trails off to the position he found the pair of you in. It’s strange, though he doesn’t know how to exactly describe why it is so.

Taehyung can’t return to work.

Not when it’s pressing on his mind. It’s odd. There’s something strange about Yoonji.

Something that Taehyung has never realized before. But he still can’t put his finger on it.

“Do you think there’s something going on with her? I mean...I just never noticed before but there’s something definitely weird.”

Namjoon chomps on his banana, putting it deep into his mouth. He chews, leaving remnants all over his skin and smearing his dirty fingers into his chaotic hair. The boy is monkey-like, giggling like an idiot. “Like what?”

“I don’t know- wait. Shut up for a second.”

“Okay.” Namjoon stops with Taehyung, continuing to eat his banana as he watches the latter man lean against the janitor’s closet with a frown.

“Is that...? I think I hear crying!” Taehyung pushes up his glasses and scratches his head. “Should we get someone?”

“Nah.” Namjoon wipes his mouth with the back of his hand in a barbaric movement. “It’s nothing. I cry in the janitor’s closet a lot too. It’s nice and cool and dark in there. Once I got stuck. I couldn’t open it for hours but I realized….I didn’t twist the door knob.”

Taehyung ignores him and knocks on the surface. He tries the knob but it’s locked. He leans in close and then it becomes silent, as if there was nothing in there at all. Did he mishear? Was his ears playing tricks on him? Maybe he was reading too much and working too much lately. That had to be it.

There’s no other logical explanation! Unless the custodian kept animals in his closet...

He brushes it off and Namjoon continues to accompany him down the hall.

“I can’t believe it…” Two girls come walking in the opposite direction, giggling to each other. “Who turns on porn that loudly? Everyone could hear it and it was like going on all night. God, there’s some real thirsty people around. Didn’t they get tired of watching?”

“I’m surprised they don’t know headphones exist. The RA almost knocked on the door but she was too embarrassed and tired to say something.” The other girl laughs, covering her mouth as she shoves her friend lightly. “But you know...it almost sounded real.”

“Pft.” Her friend rolls her eyes. “How could it be real? That’s impossible! Your imagination’s going too far.”

Taehyung’s head follows them as they disappear, bickering and gossiping with each other. He frowns, letting the words sink in, still confused. At the same time, Namjoon picks his nose, flicking it out the open window, probably onto some poor passersby outside.

“I’m going to go have lunch now!”

“Didn’t you just eat a banana?” Taehyung becomes distracted and disgusted while looking at the tall statured individual. “Do you even go to class? Do you have classes?”

Namjoon shrugs, scratching his head of hair as he makes the wrong turn to the cafeteria.

Taehyung internally and externally sighs.

The self proclaimed genius finally finds you when you’re exiting a lecture. He grins and dashes up to you. “Hey, Y/N!”

“Taehyung. It’s good to see you.” You might be dating Yoongi but you still liked to keep Taehyung around as a good friend. You’ve even spoken to Yoongi about it and he didn’t mind nor care. Your friends are your friends, it’s your decision after all. But your boyfriend did express that the idiot genius seemed to have other intentions with you which you adamantly refused.

Taehyung was your friend and that’s all there is to it.

“You know, I need your help with Yoonji! Jimin’s not going on anymore dates with her. This is the chance I’ve been waiting for!”

You smile sheepishly. “That might be a little bit difficult.”

“How so?” He lolls his head to the side in curiosity at the same time the same person you’re both discussing appears at the scene. Yoonji nonchalantly walks up to the both of you, one eyebrow cocked, hands buried within pockets.

Taehyung smiles, about to plunge at the opportunity, ask the love of his life out to dinner but as he looks at you for courage, his irises land on a blue mark plastered on your neck. “Y/N! What are those?!”

You look down before realizing the hickies and marks, covering them up hastily with your hands. “T-...They’re-!”

“She has a boyfriend now.” Your best friend interjects, smiling at you and Taehyung looks between the two of you, trying to decipher the emotions flashing on your faces. “Right, Y/N?”

“I do.”

“Oh…” Taehyung lets out a noise and then he clears his throat. “I mean...that’s great! I just didn’t know. When did it happen?”

“Recently.”

Taehyung nods. “I understand.”

You blush, a bit puzzled as to why the genius appears hurt. He looks up at your roommate, opening his mouth as if to ask something, perhaps for her to go out to dinner with him. But as Taehyung looks back at you, he grows disheartened and nods again.

“I guess I’ll see you later…”

Yoonji waves him off. “Bye!”

You pout at the retreating figure. “Bye, Taehyung!” Then you look to your boyfriend. “That was weird.”

He scoffs and kisses you on your cheek. “You’re super dense.”

You still don’t really understand.

You’re munching on a sandwich, sipping a juice box, a carton of soup by your side and a stack of toast to your left. Namjoon sits beside you, swaying back and forth as he plays some game on his phone. He gnaws on a chicken drumstick in his other hand and his phone accidentally slips from his grasps, tumbling to the tiled floor, further cracking whatever’s left of his glass screen.

You wince as he drops his arm down, searching for the device that’s near your foot, his face practically hovering over your skirt. “Hey, Y/N.”

“W-what?” You tug the fabric down and take of a sigh of relief when he finally grabs it, his nose meters away from your thighs like it should be.

“You smell a whole lot like Yoonji.” He comments without thinking much, taking another bite and playing the next round of Candy Crush.

Your entire face from your chin to your hair line turns into a shade of scarlet. “H..how do you know what Yoonji smells like?”

“I like her.” He says shortly as if it serves as the perfect explanation. “She smells like laundry….and coffee…”

“Mint and orange citrus…” You finish off without needing to debate for a single second. It’s a scent that you’ve memorized, that you find comfort in, that you’ve drowned yourself in on cold nights where the chills seeped into the window cracks.

Namjoon doesn’t question why you smell like Yoonji. He becomes distracted, a mind of a goldfish and attention span of a dog in a park with a thousand squirrels running around.

Yoongi finds you after his classes are done, grabbing lunch and seating himself across the table. You don’t say much, mind still preoccupied with your previous conversation with Namjoon. And you eat like a starved man who’s lived on a desert for centuries, focusing on gulping down all your food before your lecture begins.

“Well, aren’t you hungry?” Yoongi smiles as he stares at you, watching as you fit the rest of the sandwich in your mouth.

“I’ve been…” You clear your throat. “...working out lately.”

He smirks. “I bet you have been.”

“Wow!” Namjoon notices and he gawks at you. “You can sure fit a lot in your mouth, Y/N!”

Your boyfriend’s smirk grows even more, “she can. Can’t you, Y/N?”

You flush, rubbing and shifting your thighs together while his gaze becomes darker. Namjoon doesn’t notice. Instead, he challenges you. “I bet I can fit even more!” He peels another banana, shoving it down his throat. The two of you ignore him, having an unspoken conversation through stares.

Namjoon chokes, pounding his chest. Luckily (or not), he doesn’t die.

The professor at the front podium reads off of the textbook in a monotone voice. On any other day, you would’ve been bored to death, falling asleep with your head bobbing up and down but you’re wide awake. “Hey...Hoseok.”

The English Literature major looks up at you, having been absorbed in the poetry. “Yes?”

It’s a problem that’s been pressing on your mind for the past few days. You didn’t really have anyone to consult, anyone who would truly understand your issues. The best you had was Hoseok who seemed rather insightful and intelligent, who didn’t ask for details or pry deeper. He could give you an unbiased opinion. “It’s something about….sex drive.”

His eyes glisten and his entire body turns to you. “Ah. The lust that drives our decisions. What about it?”

“I have a friend…” You clear your throat. “Who has a friend who has a boyfriend...and this boyfriend is really sweet and kind and she loves him a lot. But the two of them are always engaged in….”

“Sex.” He says it plainly when you become embarrassed. “Go on.”

“Yes. And now my friend’s friend is worried that her boyfriend really only wants her for her body. I mean...they have a lot of sex. I’m not sure if it’s even normal. Like three or four times a day? O-...Of course, I wouldn’t know out of first hand experience but that’s what I heard.”

Your body is so sore that it isn’t even funny anymore. Everything aches. The skin around your breast, collarbones and neck is bruised in colours of blue and purple, shapes made from his lips. Your breasts, themselves, are tender and your ass is raw, hurting every time you sit down. Your thighs are inflamed, sensitive and your core still throbs. As much as Yoongi takes care of you each and every time, asking you if you’re okay...you haven’t been quite honest. You didn’t want to disappoint him after all.

“Let me read you something. I think it’ll help.” He flips through his notebook. “Lost in lust. Between bedsheets and car seats, a gust from her lips onto his member, it is a night to remember.”

You wonder where he’s going with this but Hoseok continues. “How he thrusts in deep, making her adjust to the leap. It’s enough to combust - after each and every thrust.” He exhales and shakes his head, holding in his tears. “ But alas, their lust was their destruct. For they never discussed and thus did not trust. Never spoken a single word, a proclamation of true love, and from the ocean of sex, there was nothing above.”

There’s a long second of silence. “What?”

“Communication is key.” Hoseok says plainly. “Communication.”

He should’ve just said that in the first place instead of reading out a full poem. But you guess it’s Hoseok’s passion nevertheless. As long as he doesn’t burst out crying like he usually does, you’re relieved.

The afternoon sun slowly begins to tuck itself over the horizon, painting the sky in orange and pinks, beams pressing through the glass to your shadow on the floor. You’re studying for some upcoming tests and papers or at least trying to….every other minute, you’re glancing up at the door, waiting for your roommate to return. It’s unlike Yoongi not to be here when you are and he didn’t respond to your text messages either. You can only be curious and worried to where he is.

Alas, at seven o’clock, the door creaks and you perk right up from your drowsy state. “Yoongi?”

“Hey.” He smiles, slipping off his shoes and carrying in a plastic bag. “Nice to see you too.”

“Where did you go?” You shove your books aside, letting him sit on your mattress.

“Nowhere..” Yoongi swallows and then he looks at you for a long time. Before you can inquire if there’s something on your face, he reaches over to begin unbuttoning your shirt.

“H-hey…” You lift your hands to his, nervousness eating at your skin. It hasn’t even been five minutes since his return and he wants to go at it already?! You haven’t even recovered from the morning’s roughhousing. “Yoongi..I-...”

“I went to the pharmacy.” He interrupts without realizing, unbuttoning your shirt only halfway to reveal your bruised collarbones and the marks left on your chest. “It’s soothing cream for your skin. I know I’ve been too rough with you. I’m sorry.”

“Oh.”

His fingers lightly tap on them and he makes sure to be as gentle as possible. Your face grows warm but not in the same way as when he usually touches you. This time, your heart swells inside your chest and you feel an urge to keep Yoongi close to you, in a way that is beyond lust.

“So…” He re-buttons your shirt again, setting the container aside in case you want to apply it on your thighs or elsewhere. “I was thinking...if you wanted to go out on a date…”

“A date?”

“A proper one.” He hums. “A movie, dinner...maybe a walk in the park?”

You can’t stop your grin from taking over your face. “I never took you much for a person who likes walks in the parks, Min Yoongi.”

He scoffs and smiles, looking down at his lap and crumpling the bag together. “I’m not.”

“But maybe for you….I don’t mind.”

It’s pitch dark outside. The moon hangs in the air, allowing silver light to melt with the golden glow of lamp posts. Taehyung stretches, eyes exhausted from staring into microscopes, poking organisms in petri-dishes. He hangs the white lab coat on the hook, grabs his bag and switches off the white fluorescent lighting. He stifles a yawn, beginning to twist around the halls to make the treacherous march back to the dormitory.

“What are you doing here?”

“Why do you care?” The sports major huffs out, having been standing partly out of the hallway. He looks right back at him. “I was doing some last minute working out. Are you heading back?”

Taehyung nods and the other nods too. “I guess we could walk back together then. Not that I care about you or anything but it’s more convenient this way. Wait for me….or not. It doesn’t really matter to me..”

“Sure.” Taehyung’s left baffled, waiting out at the hallway and looking through the glass doors of the gym. Jungkook puts back his weights, swiping the towel off of a machine to wipe his forehead. He drapes it on his shoulder and takes his duffle back, swinging it behind him.

“Let’s go.”

The two of them walk alongside each other in awkward silence, having not much to say. Taehyung takes peeks of the other boy but doesn’t say much else until they pass by a coffee shop that’s still open. “Did you eat yet?”

Jungkook shrugs. “I guess we could grab something. Only because it’s on the way obviously.”

Taehyung smiles and opens the door. “After you…”

“Thanks.” They study the menu in some more quietness, letting the background simmer of conversations fill the in between. As they purchase their own pastries, they wait for their drinks at the counter.

“I like your glasses…” Jungkook admits and Taehyung immediately lights up. It’s like the sun has entered the orbit of his dark world, as if his soulmate has been found and his heart has begun to beat for the first time.

“Thanks!” He enthusiastically grins. “I like your face. It’s very biologically symmetrical. Did you know symmetrical faces are considered to be more attractive? It’s scientifically theorized that it may be a link to superior genes. So, I guess in a way....you have superior genetics.”

Jungkook blushes at the compliment. “You’re an idiot.” But after a full second and a skip heartbeat, he mutters back, “I like your face too. It’s also very symmetrical.”

Taehyung’s orbs double and his brown irises shine like sunshine beams. “Thanks!”

It’s an unlikely combination. Though, it’s one that oddly works well together. Jungkook ends up stripping off his jacket to throw to Taehyung when they walk back and the latter offers to help the former study if he ever needs it. Jungkook agrees but plainly because he needs the help.

There’s no other reason. Definitely.

Why do you love Yoonji?

It’s a question you’ve asked yourself time and time again. She wasn’t the kindest to you when you met nor the nicest roommate you could ever have. The girl had a sharp tongue, sassy at every single remark, biting in her words and bad-tempered. Yet, you saw underneath the facade to a more vulnerable person who cared a lot despite the venomous exterior.

She became your best friend, someone that had you hanging onto every syllable, cherishing and adoring her like an absolute queen or a sister. In turn, she doted on you, letting you get away with things that others wouldn’t even be able to suggest.

“You never called me back.” Seokjin walks with you, raising an eyebrow. “Too intimidated too? Don’t worry. For you...I’ll make an exception.” He winks and you twist your face in distaste.

Your best friend scoffs. “She’s not interested.”

His jaw drops. “What?”

Out of nowhere, Hoseok turns from the other hallway and joins, flipping through his literature book. “Y/N. Yoonji. I have this poem you should hear. Listen. The two lovers-”

“Don’t want to hear it.” Your roommate pushes the book away and Hoseok looks up suddenly, appalled that he could become silenced.

Namjoon comes barrelling down the corridor, phone in his hand, almost tripping. “Yoonji!”

“Shut it.”

Jimin pops his head out of the classroom he was studying from to see the commotion. He catches you and Yoonji together and he angelically smiles. His warm brown irises crinkle into half moons, a sweet expression that matches his cute and generous aura. He waves and you smile, waving back to him. Your heart doesn’t flutter anymore at the simple gesture.

Jungkook who was listening to music, looking out the windows, pulls out his earbuds. “Oh. Y/N and Yoonji. It’s not like I was waiting for you two or anything but have you guys seen Taehyung? Again, it’s not like I care but-”

“I don’t know and I don’t care.”

At that exact same time, Taehyung walks in from the outside, wearing his white lab coat and goggles on his head. He scratches his ruffled hair before his eyes move towards Yoonji. Instantly, he looks over to you and smiles. “Yoonji! Y/N!”

Jungkook steps out from the shadows. “Taehyung….” His expression is unreadable.

Taehyung blinks back at him, a turmoil of emotions that he cannot decipher clouds his once clear logic. “Jungkook. I-”

“So we’re just saying each other’s names now?” Your best friend rolls their eyes, pulling you along. “Let’s go.”

All of them come barreling towards the pair of you. Seokjin demands an explanation as to why you won’t call him, Hoseok desperately wants to read out his new poem and he’s already shedding tears, Namjoon wants to ask directions to the cafeteria and if Yoonji wants to join. Taehyung and Jungkook are just staring at each other in complete silence while Jimin watches with his elbow propped on the window ledge, chin rested in his hand, amused at the chaos.

Your roommate screams, tugging you along as you laugh. You turn the corner, disappearing in front of their eyes.

“Where did they go?!”

“Yoonji?! Yoonji!”

“Over there!”

The realization punches Taehyung’s body and soul like a freight train. It comes from nowhere. The enlightenment descends down from the Heavens, blessing his mind. He whips his neck over and gasps.

Jungkook immediately is on guard. “What’s wrong?”

“I know.” The genius mumbles, piecing together all the evidence one by one. Everything he’s heard to everything he’s seen. From the flawlessness of your best friend to how oddly silky the black strands are….as if it were fake.

The one secret of Yoonji. What you’ve been keeping hidden. It all adds up-

Yoonji’s losing her hair.

……..

Why do you love Yoongi?

No one word could ever describe or even begin to delve into it. You can’t write a list either or tens of novels because you would certainly miss something. You don’t want to reduce him to a few traits, to strung syllables spoken on tongue to try to get others to understand. It’s much more complicated than that and a lot simpler as well.

It’s in the way he gazes at you with softened irises, the shade of melted honey. How his calloused fingertips and rough hands lightly skim over your skin, cherishing you. It’s how he can still be mean but never rude, how he scoffs and flicks you, but kisses you gently. There’s something about how he holds your hand, pouts and whines, jabs at the places that tickle - how you would want to spend every second pissing him off or making him piggyback you.

You never knew your best friend could become even more important in your life.

“Why do they never leave us alone?”

“You have no one else to blame but yourself.” You scold him, looking through the crack of the janitor’s closet. He’s hovering above you, two eyes staring out. The both of you quiet down when the calls of your boyfriend’s name come closer until it fades away. “You’re too popular.”

“Trust me. I’m not the one.” He laughs and faces you, cradling your cheeks in his palms.

You beat him to the punch, leaning in to kiss him. Yoongi grins at you, a gummy smile that makes you kiss him again. “Try to be quiet this time.”

Why do you love Yoongi? You just do.

{Epilogue}

The bell chimes as the door is swung open.

“Good morning-” The girl holding the silver scissors stops in her tracks. The black strands of her hair skim over her shoulder, pink apron tied around the curves of her body. “What are you doing here?”

The boy sheepishly smiles and shrugs. “Haircut?”

She points with her comb. “What are those?”

“Just some flowers and chocolates.” Jimin looks down at his hands and he giggles. “Surprise?”

The girl with the pouty lips scoffs, rolling her eyes and acting unfazed. “Set it aside, lover boy.”

Jimin gets into the chair, wearing the black cape. His nose scrunches when the water is sprayed and he feels ticklish when the strands of his locks fall loose in front of his face after being snipped. He doesn’t notice how it’s going however, focused on gazing at the girl in the mirror’s reflection. It takes twenty minutes before it’s over and she rips the cape away, blow drying his hair quickly.

“Done.”

Jimin looks into the mirror and he’s taken back. His trim has turned into an unrecognizable style. His fringe is straightly cut and it goes all the way until the back. It’s at the same length, chopped shortly above his ears - a bowl hair cut.

“I-” Jimin stares and the girl waits for his reaction. “I love it!”

And he really does. Mainly because it’s her who did it for him.

Yoonhee sighs but a tiny smile sneaks up her lips.

#bts fanfic #THE FINAL PART!#Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!!

757 notes · View notes

maepolzine · 6 years

Text

Don't Starve: Maxwell's Door Quest Tips

Maxwell's Door is a portal that brings the player out of Sandbox mode and into Adventure mode. Typically it is surrounded by Evergreens, Fireflies, and Evil Flowers. It resembles the machine which brought Wilson to Maxwell's world in the first place, as seen in Forbidden Knowledge video. It can be found with the help of a Divining Rod. Upon activating it, a warning message will appear informing the player about Adventure Mode and asking them if they want to proceed or not. If they do, the player will be grabbed by a Shadow Hand and then appear in the first chapter of Adventure Mode with no inventory (except special items such as Lucy, Willow's Lighter, or Abigail's Flower) or recipes, so players are required to begin anew in Adventure Mode. Health, Hunger, and Sanity levels will be restored. If the player dies in Adventure Mode, they will wake up in front of the Maxwell's Door in Sandbox Mode with their original inventory, Health, Hunger, and Sanity level as if they never activated the Door. However, Maxwell's Door does not spawn in Shipwrecked. So how do you get through the levels in Adventure Mode?

There are five chapters and an epilogue to Adventure Mode. The order of their appearance is chosen at random. Though certain levels cannot be a particular chapter. Such as darkness can only by the final chapter while Chapter 4 cannot be A Cold Reception (see chart below). So what are the chapters?

A Cold Reception

"Oh, You found my portal did you? You'd think you would have learned your lesson by now. Hmm. Let's try something a little more challenging, shall we? " -- Maxwell

May appear on chapters 1-3. This level is similar to a Sandbox world, except the seasons change very quickly. A rainy 6 days of summer followed by a snowy 3 of winter makes exploration difficult. In addition, daytime will never exceed one third of the day, and significantly less during winter. Players are more vulnerable to insanity and freezing as you have to face near-constant rain or snow and much less daylight.There will always be at least one resource which is very rare. Sometimes the level generated will not have many Saplings, but a lot of Spiky Bushes instead; other times, Grass might be either scarce or there might be plenty, but they're all pre-picked and need to be fertilized.

Tips:

If this is your first level try to learn as many Recipes as you need, because you will keep them through the Adventure Mode.

It's important not to attack Frogs when others are nearby, as all of them will chase and attack you. Try to kite the Frogs until they give up chasing you.

Alternatively, you can trap Frogs and they will be a consistent food source. Other Frogs in the area will not attack when you trap them provided you do not attack them first.

If this is not your first level, prepare a Farm (in the previous level) to place, as the plentiful rain makes crops grow incredibly fast.

Keep in mind that Straw Rolls and Tents are very useful to skip the night and replenish Sanity level during this mode. However, it is important to remember that sleeping restores sanity at the cost of Hunger and is not highly recommended due to the scarcity of food sources.

You will find the following sources of food on this level: lots of Rabbit Holes; Tallbirds, Frogs and Beefalos. Keep in mind that Tallbirds generally fight Frogs and if one does not die to Frogs, kiting and killing it is a good way to get Meat, Tallbird Eggs, and Frog Legs. Keep in mind that killing most of these increase Naughtiness, so be wary of Krampus!

There are several areas that are blocked off by Spider Dens. Building 6 or more Traps and luring wave after wave of Spiders into it is a good way of cleaning them. Another way is to attempt to burn the Spider Dens down, but this is only recommended when the Spider Dens are in a Forest, where you would first light a tree on fire. You can also run in, plant a Pine Cone as close to the den as possible, then return when it is grown and light fire on it. If you've just started and your area does not provide resources to make Traps, you can try and run through the Spider Dens at the cost of Health and Sanity.

It is possible to travel to Archipelago, The Game is Afoot, or King of Winter, which has an infinite Winter. Taking with you Rabbit Earmuffs (worst), Winter Hat (okay), or Beefalo Hat (best) will help greatly in those levels.

Keep on your feet during the day and evening, stopping only to pick up food and the bare minimum for tools. Use every other night to set a campfire by the trees so players may chop trees and cook carrots. Between those nights, keep moving by Torch, using the reduced vision to gather Twigs and Cut Grass, and to shave Beefalos. Make a base only if this is your first world and you need to prototype useful items, or if it is the 4th one and you want to prepare for the next world.

An Umbrella is highly recommended because your Sanity will drop very very quickly due to the near constant Rain. WX-78 will have trouble with sanity unless using an umbrella.

Carry cooked Green or Blue Mushrooms, picked on dusk and night.

Consider gathering Flowers and using them to craft a Garland. Picking Flowers will restore Sanity and Garland will help combat Sanity loss due to Rain and foregoing sleep for the first few days. If you manage to get a Science Machine and x6 Silk then you will be able to craft a Top Hat, which restores 3.3 Sanity/min. Rain drains 3.3 Sanity/min., so it makes 0 Sanity loss.

A quick and easy (but risky) way to get past blocked off areas such as the Pig Guardian checkpoint is to place 1 cut grass or 1 twig next to the wood wall and light it up with a torch.

As the rain is frequent during summer, more combustible material is needed to maintain fire. Charcoal stacks up to 40 and will be in great supply when the large forests catch fire due to the of lightning strikes.

When trying to find the Things, if you are on an island-like landform, walk around all the edges of it with the divining rod as you have a good chance to pick up a signal without having to explore too much of the island. This does NOT work if the island is too large.

King of Winter

"Well, would you look at that, you survived. One down, four to go!" -- Maxwell

May appear on chapters 1-4. Players are spawned in a Grasslands Biome. Maxwell informs that endless winter has already begun, burning trees are around players to prevent from freezing while players hearing Maxwell's dialogue. Players can look forward to 1.5–3 minutes of daytime while juggling the ever-present effects of freezing, starvation, and insanity in this harsh climate. On the other hand, nights do not last long in this world. Hound Mounds are guarding a location of the map forcing players to go through if players want to get all the pieces. The journey will be blocked by a group of Boulders or Obelisks. For the latter, players may need to have a certain level of sanity (either low or high level) in order to pass through the Bridges. The aim is to survive the cold without any preparation time. Do not try to stay here for long; find a place on the first 2 to 3 days to collect as many items as possible and get some food but then just go exploring as quick as you can to find the rest of the pieces. This is a very difficult level and it might take you more than 3 tries to pass this. It depends on the number of obelisks crossing you will get in the level, also the type and amount of natural resources available (e.g. Rabbits may not be present at all, or limited grass in a sector).

Tips

Because Obelisks will block your passage, it's important to know how to pass through them. There are 2 types of Obelisks. One requires you to have high Sanity, another requires you to have low Sanity. You will need 15% maximum sanity (30 for most characters) or lower to pass through the low one.

Reduce Sanity by collecting (-5), eating (-5) or standing nearby (-25/min) Evil Flowers/Dark Petals, eating Raw Meat (-10), eating Cooked Monster Meat (-10), digging up graves (-10), eating raw Green Cap (-50), and more. Refer to Sanity list.

Restore Sanity by picking up Flowers (+5), and eating Cooked Green Cap (+15) at the price of -1 Health. If you have enough Monster Meats/Meats, befriending a Pig will help increase sanity (+25/min).

Accumulation of Green Mushrooms is highly suggested before crossing a low sanity Obelisks so that you can cook to quickly restore sanity.

Timing is important when moving between 'sectors' that are split off by low level sanity Obelisks. Make sure you gather enough resources in case the new sector is lacking a particular resource (e.g. Boulders) and if you are unable to return to the previous location; as being insane can make it more difficuit with Crawling Horror threats.

If you happen to start in or find a 'rich' resource area, you might want to consider staying in the area for a while to gather all its resources before moving to the next sector. Don't rush!

It is best to stand near a fire source until the Heat Stone is charged to max. When it is charged to max, it will turn orange in color. This will give you more time to explore before building a fire.

If you have problems finding Boulders, remember that those can be found in small numbers in the Forests. Also, Gold Nuggets can be scattered around Graveyards or near big amounts of Spider Dens.

If you reach a choke point with Hound Mounds scattered around, two of the ways to get through them is by using a Beefalo Horn to lure beefalos and distract the hounds while you destroy the mounds or flat out running, avoiding the hound's attacks until you reach a place where the hounds stop following you (it is useful to wear a feather hat, as this will attract birds which will take the hounds interest for a short time).

Hounds from Hound Mounds, Tallbirds, and even Deerclops can also be taken out with use of Tooth Traps and the kiting method.

Obtaining the Tam o' Shanter can be tricky due to the long range of MacTusk's darts and the fast speed of his hounds. The best approach to the group is to lure the hounds away and deal with them separately from MacTusk and his son, analyze if any healing is necessary, then going back to fight MacTusk. You may need to try several times, as the hat has merely a 25% drop rate. It is the best hat in the game to wear for regaining sanity and also helps with warmth, making it a worthy endeavour.

Berry Bushes, Grass and other renewable resources no longer respawn. So Plan accordingly.

If Grass is scarce, try to pick up as many as you can and use sparingly. Since the level has only winter, Logs and Grass are needed all the time to make Campfires. An alternative way to quickly get warm is to use a Torch to burn stray trees (so it won't spread) and Manure (if available). Manure can be collected and used to fuel camp fires. A great approach, if rocks are in good supply, is to build Fire Pits. These require no grass to build and are permanent.

If there are Rabbits try to catch them with a Trap. Use Carrots to bait, or (preferred) 'guide' it towards the trap by placing it near the rabbit's home entrance so that it runs into the trap. 2 Rabbits and 1 twig are needed for Rabbit Earmuffs.

If there are no Rabbits on the map, hunting for Koalefants will provide 8 Meat which is more cost effective than hunting for Beefalos. However, Koalefants are also time consuming to locate and they hit a bit harder than Beefalos. It is advisable to have Armor and a Ranged Weapon when hunting.

Try to make a Crock Pot as soon as possible as it is more effective to fullfil your hunger and sanity.

Remember to collect Monster Meat since it can be used to make Pigs follow you. They can be a great help fighting against MacTusks and other aggressive animals. Beware, feeding them 4 Monster Meats in total turns them into Werepigs. It is also helpful to use Monster Meat in Crock Pot recipes.

The Game is Afoot

"What? You're still here? Impressive, but you should probably stop while you're ahead." -- Maxwell

This can be chapters 1-4. Players are spawned on the ground of a Marsh surrounded by normal Grassland. The player will spawn near a chest usually containing 7 Logs, a Winter Hat and 3 Flint. On a rare occasion the chest may contain 10 Rot and 4 random Blueprints. Sometimes the Chest is spawned near a Campfire and can be ignited immediately, costing the player the items inside. Seasonal cycles are not present in this world. The world begins in winter, and will turn to endless summer (Spring in Reign of Giants) after 10 days. Periodic Hound Attacks begin in this world.

The world features a resource-rich central island surrounded by dangerous lands containing the Teleportato Things. There is the possibility of an island being completely cut off from the rest of the world, requiring players to find a Wormhole to get to it. The central island will always have Grassland, Forest, and Savanna, but no other biomes except the tiny marsh at the spawning point. Outlying areas may have any biome.

Tips

Players will see various mobs and mob housing occupying the bridges connecting the central landmass to the outlying areas and sometimes on bridges chaining together two outlying areas. It is also possible for a bridge to exist entirely within the central landmass connecting already contiguous land; in this case it can simply be avoided.

Players are advised to move quickly and be well equipped when crossing these blockades.

As Spiders will be present in the central area, it is possible to stock up on Healing Salves before venturing out.

A Grass Suit or Log Suit will provide protection without the reduced movement of a Marble Suit which can be deadly when running a blockade. It will also be possible to craft a Football Helmet from Pigs (the Crank Thing will always spawn one and there will usually be a pig village in an outlying area) or from Pig Heads near Touch Stones or Merm Houses.

Blockades on the bridges and the ways to deal with them (Keep in mind that not everything needs to be killed if it can be avoided by the player):

Tier 3 Spider Dens - The Sticky Webbing around the dens will usually completely cover the ground, making it impossible to cross without provoking the spiders. The player can usually run past the Spider Dens anyway, at cost of Health as spiders attack. Equipping a Spiderhat and/or a Walking Cane can make this run safer. (For tips on clearing out the dens instead, see the Spider Den page.) If left alone, the tier 3 dens will spawn Spider Queens and consequently more dens, making the crossing more dangerous as time progresses.

Hound Mounds - Avoidance is key here; this blockade can be run through because generally Hounds are not fast enough to catch a player who keeps moving. This is safer during Day when hounds are usually not roaming away from their mounds.

Tallbird Nests - This blockade can be run through during Dusk or Night because during this time the Tallbirds sleep. This blockade will also have Boulders, including gold vein boulders, make it a valuable source of food and resources.

Killer Bee Hives - A run through this blockade will almost always cost the player Health as not all attacks can be avoided. A player cornered by multiple Killer Bee swarms can easily be stun-locked and severely injured or killed; some cautious feints to avoid dead ends are advised. In addition to other armor, a Beekeeper Hat will reduce 80% of incoming damage from bees, useful either for running or for clearing the blockade. (For tips on clearing out some or all of the hives, see the Beehive page.)

Clockwork Monsters - A run through this blockade will almost always cost the player Health as Clockwork Bishop attacks are difficult to avoid. It is possible to clear this blockade with mob-on-mob violence: use a Beefalo Horn or a Spiderhat to lead a mob into the blockade or position the Clockwork Rook to charge into the other clockwork monsters.

Swamp Spiral - This spiral bridge is heavily infested with Tentacles leaving no safe place to stand. However, the tentacles do not anticipate the player's movements so it is possible to simply run around the spiral faster than the tentacles react, taking no damage except to Sanity. Stopping or reversing direction on the bridge is not advised, so watch for dead ends at the edges of the spiral.

Archipelago

"Say, pal. You're really pushing your luck. Turn back now, or I may have to resort to drastic measures." -- Maxwell

This may appear on chapters 1-4. Players are spawned on one of six islands. The only way to get to other islands are by Worm Holes.There is one Thing on each island; except on the island you begin. One island may contain one or more worm holes that split off to mulitple islands. It is likely you may need to return to the previous island(s) after collecting one piece of the Thing in order to set up the Teleportato at the Wooden Thing.

The season begins at the start of spring and will gradually change over time similar to sandbox mode. Each island is dominated by mostly one or two biomes. The islands are placed in a circular shape, and while the shape is no indication of the order the wormholes will travel in, each island always has the same two biomes, each time you try Archipelago.

The starting island has a small square shaped biome full of Carrots, Grass, Saplings, and Berry Bushes, and the rest of the island is dominated by a massive Swamp filled with Spider Dens, Tentacles, and Merms.

Tips

It is suggested that the first Forest biome you see you get enough Logs, Cut Grass, Twigs, and Flint to survive for a long while, because you won't be seeing some of the resources in the forest biome again.

It is recommended that players establish a way to come back from or cope with insanity, since it is inevitable that you will be traveling via wormholes quite often.

Usually, two of the six islands are Swamps. It can be very useful to stick around when Merms and Spiders fight Tentacles, as this gives you a free grinder. If the Tentacles die, you get a weapon. If the Merms die, you get Fish and Frog Legs which you can use to make Fish Sticks or Meatballs. If the Spiders die, you get free Silk and Spider Glands. Just be sure that nothing tries to kill you while picking up the loot.

Spend the first day grabbing everything you can in the starting biome, especially food and flowers. Food is scarce on the other five islands, and there is a high insanity risk too.

Each island may have a particular set of creatures according to the biomes.

Starting and 2nd island: Swamp Biome has Merms, Spiders, Mosquitoes and Tentacles.

1 island: Grassland/Forest Biome has Killer Bee Hives, Bees, Spiders.

1 island: Rockyland Biome has Tallbirds.

1 island: Rockyland/Forest Biome has Spiders and Hound Mounds.

1 island: Savanna Biome has Beefalo, Spiders and usually the usual creatures near the Wooden Thing.

When using the wormhole it is possible that you will travel into a middle of a field of Killer Bee Hives, Spiders, or aggressive creatures so be prepared to run to safety.

You can destroy the hives/mounds with ranged weapons and fires, especially fire darts due to the abundance of trees (Charcoal) and Swamps (Reeds). (Not Advised as it is time and resource consuming; the objective is to locate the Things)

If possible, bringing a Walking Cane from the previous level is helpful to kite aggressive creatures, pass through swamps with tentacles, and to locate the Things.

If this is your fourth level, be prepared for the final stage; Darkness as it is quite difficult.

Two Worlds

"Say. pal. Let's make a deal. You can stay here. Settle down, even. I'll give you food, gold, pigs, whatever you need. All I want in return is a truce" -- Maxwell

This may appear on chapter 3-4. The character awakens on ground made of Cobblestones surrounded by a Fire Pit, a Tent, Trees, Berry Bushes, and Carrots. Maxwell materializes to ask the player for a truce, provided you stay there. Seven out of eight minutes are daylight on the large mainland where you start. In addition, there are no Things on this land.

In order to locate the Things you must travel through Worm Holes that connects the mainland to the secondary land. There are two types of Worm Hole; One is the normal Wormhole you encounter in sandbox mode, and the other is Sick Worm Hole that can only be used for a one way trip.

When on the secondary island, certain parts of the biomes will cause the day/night cycle to turn from 7 out of 8 minutes day to a more normal cycle, about 3–4 minutes daylight out of 8. (E.g. Walking/traveling through worm hole from a grassland to a swamp biome will cause the time shift). Take care of the time when travelling between biomes as the time change may make it dark faster than you expect.

Tips:

The mainland should have plenty of food and since daylight is much longer, respawn rates from berry bushes and other plants are faster.

The secondary island has a range of aggressive creatures. Take caution.

If this world appeared on chapter 3, it is recommended that you bring winter gear with you to the next world, as it is possible for 'The Game is Afoot' or 'King of Winter' to appear in chapter 4 if they haven't appeared before.

If this world appeared on chapter 4, it is recommended that you bring a stack of fireflies (for a Miner Hat) and a lot of food (Jerky or Honeybecause of long-term storage), as the next world will be in permanent night and scarce on food. Use this chapter as a chance to prepare for the challenging level 'Darkness'.

Darkness

"You insolent, pitiful, insignificant ant! Do not arouse the wrath of the great Maxwell! You will regret coming any further..." -- Maxwell

This will always be chapter 5. The player spawns with a bunch of Campfires and Fire Pits surrounding you and there will be a backpack nearby which has schematics for the Miner Hat, a healthy stack of grass, a stack of logs, two random items, and an extra random blueprint .The level's Day-night cycle has only permanent night, thus players have to survive and find the Things in complete darkness. Since there is no day light, most creatures are asleep, crops won't grow and other plants may take longer to replenish themselves, and most importantly, your sanity continuously declines over time. To make things worse, due to chronic low sanity, building life-saving camp fires will often attract Night Hands that will attempt to put out the light.

There are almost no food resources for you to collect and your only source of natural light is Maxwell's Lights scattered around the map. Now, those might sound like a lot but they're really not going to help you much if you didn't come prepared yourself. The map is a linear progression where each Biomes are connected by a bridge(slightly similar to the ones in "King of Winter") that might be blocked by Boulders ; make sure you have a Pickaxe or gunpowder ready to blow through them. There is a chance that the bridge might be blocked by Obelisks. Each area has a Thing so make sure you find it before moving onto the next Biome.

Tips

In order to build a Miner Hat it is HIGHLY recommended that you unlocked the Bug Netfrom the previous level so you can catch Fireflies. This will save grass and twigs from making torches. Bringing a stack of gold from the previous level is helpful. The greater light radius provided by the Miner Hat can be critical to survival when traveling through Tooth Trap fields and Hound Mound areas.

Only build camp fires to cook your food, but you must hurry as Night Hands would put it out. It is not advised to stop them, as they will continuously attack the fire (due to permanent darkness) and also decreases your sanity(just put on the Miner's Hat and walk towards them constantly until they vanish).

You may need to build a Log Suit while traveling through the Swamp Biomes as the darkness makes it difficult to navigate and avoid tentacles. This means sacrificing your backpack.

If you haven't found any of these food sources and you're getting desperate for food, you're going to have to resort to Spiders. Cooked Monster Meat can be a life saver at the expense of sanity.

Suggested items to bring over from previous level:

A stack of gold to facilitate making the Miner's Hats.

A Walking Cane to kite and travel faster.

A stack of Jerky or other long-lasting food supply that also restores health or sanity.

Spider Silk for catching Fireflies with Bug Nets and Top Hats or a Tam o' Shanter (highly recommended) to use when standing near stationary light sources; or pre-captured stack of Fireflies for Miner Hats, or something else of your choosing.

Epilogue: Checkmate

"Well, this is it. You found me. Now, what are you going to do?" -- Maxwell

This is the last level and the player has reached Maxwell's Island – a small labyrinth leading to Maxwell's hall. Epilogue is a dark and dead wasteland, with a hallway in the center leading to the Nightmare Throne. The hallway branches of into small areas containing resources. The first area contains 4 chests full with supplies, in the second area there is some grass and berry bushes (most are barren), the third area has 3 crafting stations used for prototyping, and the last area has 3 Crock Pots and some mixed food laying on the ground next to them. There is permanent night and Maxwell's Lights are showing your way. No matter what level your sanity may be, eyes can be seen in the darkness. Out in the wastelands is a fully assembled Teleportato that, when used teleports the player to the Nightmare Throne. Also, the map will always be covered by fog, even after you've explored an area, thus your map will be completely useless.

At the end of the road, players will reach Maxwell's Hall. A deformed Maxwell is sitting in a large chair with a phonograph nearby playing music (if you turn it off, Maxwell will thank you). When meeting Maxwell, he will start talking, telling the player that when he got here there was nothing but dust, and "them" and that he doesn't know what they want, that they are just watching. If the player attacks Maxwell, then the throne protects him (a lightning will strike you and no matter what weapon you are holding, it will vanish), and Maxwell tells the player that the throne will not allow it. He also tells you that he has been around here for a long time, and that the player can stay around and keep him company, or to put the key in the box.

Next to the throne is the Nightmare Lock where the Divining Rod can be placed. If the Divining Rod is put in the lock, the game will ask you if you want to take pity on Maxwell but also that his captors would not be happy about it. When Maxwell is freed from the throne, he gets up and instantly dies, then turns to dust and fades away. Your character is grabbed by Shadow Hands and is placed on the throne, effectively taking Maxwell's place and becoming the new pawn (and turning the phonograph on again, if the player had turned it off before). After that you will get the final speech from Klei, and then be brought back to your sandbox game...as Maxwell! Congratulations! You have beaten Adventure Mode!

Note: If you beat Adventure World as Maxwell, the person you completed the game with last will be sitting in the chair, still doing the terrified animation. Unlocking the lock will kill them, and put Maxwell back in the chair. You will wake up in your world as that person.

#video game #maxwell's door #maxwell #don't starve #don't starve together

7 notes · View notes

mylinlondon · 6 years

Text

The OG Red City

The Medina (old city) of Marrakech is a labyrinth - dusty, spindly old roads that look like they haven’t changed in hundreds of years. There is so much to look at: souks (shops) overspilling into the uneven cobblestones filled with goods like ceramics, spices, silk, hammam (Arab spa) towels, pastries, rugs, beautiful riads (house/hotels) tucked behind crumbling walls, and, ah yes, sometimes your life also flashes before your eyes, as electric bikes zoom full-speed past you in the most neck-breaking turns.

Marrakech is unlike any other destination we’ve visited in the past year. There’s a constant feeling of opposites in this city - pristine riads just behind a crumbling wall and broken door, the dusty markets contrasted to hammams and the islamic duty to keep yourself clean, overwhelrming chaos in the Jemaa El Fna and the tranquility of rooftop restaurants sitting under the stars.

A little history:

Marrakech is towards the south-west of Morocco - the primary language is Arabic, since the Arabs arrived approximately 800 years ago, and the second language is French, as the Moors traveled up through Gibraltar and cultural exchange took place. The indigenous group of this area were the Berber people, who were famous for living in the Atlas Mountains. This was a tremendously wealthy area at one point, and you can see the evidence of it still in the tombs. Which leads me to...

The Sights:

The city is extremely walkable, and we never used any public transportation. That said, be savvy - walk away from the pandemonium, get some maps or download off-line ones, and prepare ahead. As much as I love doing it, this is not a wandering aimlessly city. Almost all my travel friends use some sort of “favorite-ing” mechanism on the maps; I icon-code mine by food, places of interest, and where I’m staying.

The following sights are by no means comprehensive, just the ones I researched and, in bold, the ones i recommend. Pictures are followed by corresponding description.

Jemaa El Fna - they say if you haven’t been to the legendary square in the evening, you’ve never been to Marrakech. It’s overwhelming, a massive market filled with fruit, food, and little trinkets. you’ll see “snake charmers” and little monkeys, and if you even vaguely point a camera/phone in their handler’s directions, they will follow you aggressively until you tip them. I found this square rather touristy, and many of the shops were quite similar, but I suppose it was compulsory

Ben Yousef Madrasa - beautiful architecture at Marrakech's most prolific school. About $2 to get in per person. It won’t take you long to do, as you’re really just taking in the architecture, but we did discover some cool stuff like the boys dormitories upstairs, and how there are still pegs in the corner of the walls to climb up in to the little wooden second floor.

Maison de Photographie - amazing photographs taken by some of the very first photographers in the 1800s. The quality and vividness will shock you, and the familiarity will make you pensive. Pause at the rooftop terrasse for a light snack. it's quite romantic up there too, and you can see a panoramic view of the Medina- smoke rising from the ceramic workshops, the Koutoubia mosque, all surrounded by dripping greenery. The famous Koutoubia mosque is not on this list because it is not open to non-muslims.

Yves Saint Laurent Museum - YSL’s summer home was restored from the lush villa of famed artist Jacques Majorelle, and in Marrakech is the only house in the city not painted in the signature red. Definitely worth a visit to visit his full collection, sketches, personal items; If there is a man who really internalized his travels, it’s @ysl-fashion. His collections over 40 years were inspired by artists, craftsmanship, and cultures from all over the world.

Bypass the huge queue at the entrance of the Majorelle gardens and buy your 3-entry ticket from the Yves Saint Laurent Museum just 100 ft further down the street. The 3 entry gets you into YSL museum (highly recommend), Majorelle Gardens (also lovely), and the Berber Museum (interesting but small)

Other sites we did not see:

Marrakech Museum - we did not go, but apparently the best feature is the architecture, which you can clearly see from outside, so no reason to go in, right?

The Tombs - we really wanted to go, and we hear they are fabulous. The two specific tombs are from rulers from 300 years ago and 100 years ago, and its here you can really see the wealth of this old empire

Definitely do a Hammam, which I will cover in another post. It is essentially a Middle Eastern Spa, but it has a whole experience to it. We also did a viator trip into the Berber mountains, and it was our most exciting day....

Quads and Camels

This excursion took up a full day. I loved it for a few reasons: the delight of befriending my camel, conversing with local children while dining at a remote Berber kazbah, and the thrill of riding quads through the desert and into the mountains. If you (like me) don't have enough days to do a proper atlas mountain hike or go to another village, this is a nice way to get out of the Medina.

A car will be arranged to pick you up at 9am at your riad, just don’t do what we did and get into the wrong van. Apparently our pick-up location is a tourist hotspot, and groups of four aren’t exactly uncommon. We booked this excursion last minute, as you can tell we didn’t exactly pack appropriately. You definitely want to keep the headscarf they give you on, as it shields you from the heat. Long sleeves and pants are recommended.

The Souks

The souks are a labyrinth, especially at night when throughways become dead-ends. Stuffed full with local silks, cashmere, leather goods, dried fruit, Moroccan cookies and spices, ceramics and metalwork, it’s a constant assault on your eyes, nose, and with the frequent near-miss with a motorcycle, body.

You can and will get lost in here. I can not emphasize enough to be sure to download an offline map, and be careful after evening prayer around 6:30pm as random paths are closed and you'll have lots of locals trying to show you the way out for a hearty tip. Your best bet is to take an outer path after 7pm than to try to navigate the maze. We did figure out our way, but we were based in the northern end of the souks.

I was not in the market for a rug, but that is of course what Morocco is known for. Just know, whatever it is you intend to buy, they will offer you easily 3-4x what the cost is, and you cannot possibly not haggle. Do your research on what you should be paying, and don't be afraid to walk away. You can see lots of sites online that will show you what people were able to buy and for what price, so have an idea of what you're looking for before you go.

In addition to the Souks, I found a few shops I adored. They’re a bit pricier, but they all feature local artists and craftsmanship.

33 Rue de Majorelle - right across from the Majorelle Gardens, everything in there is BEAUTIFUL but expensive. I bought a pair of tassle earrings that my colleague told me looked like, when I decided a rug was out of my shopping range, I cut off the tassle ends and put it on my ears. In any case, I love them

Max & Jan - cool scarfs, leathers, and interesting assortment of weird things. I didn’t get anything from here, but it was fun just walking through the store

Riad de Vinci

HIGHLY recommend our Riad, I mean look how beautiful it is! It was at an optimal location too, just north of the Souks. Our host was gracious and informative, and we dined on the rooftop every morning and on our last night and it was delicious. We even befriended the host cat, Vinci, who was fat and mostly blind but if I held a bit of chicken tagine under his whiskeys he would nibble the meat gently out of my hand.

Most Riads will have breakfast provided to you in the morning, and can provide transfer from the airport (we paid 15 euro for all of us). The ride from the airport is no more than 25 mins, the morning we left it took us around 12 mins to get from the Medina to airport (granted, it was 4am).

LAST BUT NOT LEAST: Where to eat

Tagine, tagine, tagine. You can definitely get tagined out. But it’s delicious, at least for a few days, and one of my best meals was a lamb tagine from our first lunch at Le Jardin. Moroccan food is flavorful, rich, and has so many beautiful influences from French, Spanish, Arabic cultures. What is a tagine, you ask? It looks like a clay funnel casserole, and its essentially a tiny oven that you place IN the oven, usually filled with meats and spices. We had one nearly every meal.

My best meal: lamb tagine with almonds and apricots.

We adored these little pastry stands scattered through the souks - our favorite is a tiny cart on Rue Amsafah, where the teenage girl gave us lots of samples and sold us entire boxes of cookies for $2.

Terrase des Epices - beautiful rooftop, excellent food, good atmosphere. serves alcohol (many places don't). We came here twice, we liked it so much, and we bought most of our stuff from the souks in the courtyard downstairs

Le Jardin - our first meal, and as mentioned earlier makes an incredible lamb tagine. Lots of glamorous french people here

Nomad - also a beautiful rooftop, do this at night. portions are smaller compared to other restaurants but quite chic

Grand Cafe de la Poste - the only one I didn’t love, because 1) VERY expensive and 2) not at all Moroccan, you may as well have been in Paris. But still, if you’re in the new city area, a nice place to stop for a nibble

My best meal: lamb tagine with almonds and apricots.

Dinner at Nomad with some London friends!

Tapped out - but coming later:

What exactly do you do in a Hammam?

How to dress for Morocco

4 notes · View notes

bites-kms · 4 years

Text

Santorini by the Sea

Indulge me for a minute: try to imagine the most succulent Adonis you can think of. Now, play in Spotify the Mamma Mia! playlist, choose your favorite Abba song and imagine yourself wearing Meryl Streep’s dungarees or at least some blue outfit that matches the traditional domes you had in mind. Now, dance and sing your heart out with this Adonis by the Caldera, the major iconic Greek bay landscape. That’s exactly how Santorini was portrayed in my mind, and except for the Adonis, the rest was absolutely on point!

After a ridiculously short flight of less than 40 mins from Athens, I landed in Santorini Airport where the driver was waiting to pick me up and take me to the Airbnb. We decided to stayed in Imieroviglie, the picturesque town in between Oia and Thira/Fira. It was a great location away from the touristic noise yet very secluded, so the best choice we made was renting a car to make our stayed way more enjoyable. This decision didnt come easy, since during our first day, we walked like crazy and dealt with tons of transport issues. Hence, regardless and because of that, we decided to treat ourselves. First, with a great lunch at Aegeon, the only opened place at 11 am in Imieroviglie on our way to Thira/Fira. A delicious salmon, some seafood orzo and fava dip was paired to perfection on this spotless and unique location overlooking the Caldera. It was fantastic and a very much needed delight to continue our walking expedition.

After a quick walk around Thira/Fira, we went back to our Airbnb to get ready for sunset time in Oia, on the opposite side of the island. This place is beautiful, yet it gets super crowded quite easily, specially when the tourist busses arrive at the exact sunset time and people get desperate to find a viewing spot. We used our understated Indiana Jones skills to get a unique spot at the Castle, which is by far the best place to watch the sunset. One great tip is to sit not facing the sun, but actually against it, in order to have the perfect sky colors and clouds show, instead of just watching a blinding-bright circle. Also, this is the part of the world where you want to be staring at Oia instead of the sun, so trust us when trying to get a spot facing the island and not the other way round. The sun’s dimming light towards the white and blue city is a unique spectacle worth the wait, shot and crowd.

The sky was already changing colors, the typical island foggy weather was blurring the sun, and some of the tourists were getting clingier and clingier, so we called it a day. We wanted to keep the memory intact rather than to spoil it with crazy flashes and overexcited crowds. It was the perfect moment to leave since the town was empty, concentrating everyone within the few blocks around the castle and sunset site, so we had it all for ourselves and took advantage of it to take marvelous and EMPTY pictures! We later found a fantastic spot to have dinner, overseeing the sea and a very last glimpse of sunset light. We entered to Lotza, a family-run taverna, with very tasty and vast food portions ready to satisfy your cravings after our survival sunset adventure. We were craving for dessert, and during the three nights we stayed in Santorini, we crossed the street in front of our Airbnb and asked for dessert: chocolate volcano, and we ate it in bed. It was yummy! The very last day, I wanted to check out what else besides the dessert was available, so I went by myself to White Restaurant and ask for the dish of the day, and it was a very soft and tasty roaster in wine and soup, with tomato sauce with some Greek pasta that was absolutely perfect for the windy evening.

Although we walked and walked a lot, and once again, we are convinced it’s the best way to explore unknown city parts - and seriously, who doesn’t love a very nice stroll down the hills of Santorini?- , our beautiful Fiat 500 AKA “La Macchina” gave us a lot of freedom to roam around the island, disregarding the bus schedules and the ticketing people’s shouts. I guess since it was the very end of the season, people in Santorini were a little bit ruder than in other parts of Greece, not wanting to work anymore or at least without much patience nor love, since they already did it for 3 months non-stop (not an excuse, but still understandable) and they know people will still be coming. And once again, can’t stress this enough, this rudeness was only found in Santorini, specially in Thira/Fira and Imieroviglie, so the further you went away from the touristic places, the better you were treated, and in the other islands as well as in Athens, the story was completely different, with smiles and gratitude everywhere you went. My ferry got cancelled and I had to deal with the same not-very-friendly disposition of these people downtown Thira/Fira, but everything changed when we found the exception that makes the rule: Artemis, from Sunbird rent a car. This is the lovely owner of the place, which not only works as a car rental, the only one open in the morning and off-season, but also offers a superb service. Their fleet is very good, she recommended us different cars and convinced us with the beautiful, convertible mustard Fiat 500 (drove by two Italians ;)) and she mentioned all the important places we should visit around, with great recommendations that made the whole difference during our stayed. Thank you, Artemis! You changed and shaped our trip! <3

Ladies and Gentlemen, start your engines, coz our zig-zag route across Santorini is about to begin! We went to Akrotiri lighthouse, the southwestern point of Santorini and hence, the one that was further away from us. We decided to go there first and start exploring the rest in our way back. We found an incredible isolated church, which according to Google Maps, should be Agios Eleftherios: it was beautiful and peaceful. We decided to chill for a while before heading to the beaches around the area. Red Beach, Black Beach and White Beach are right next to each other, although the White one can only be accessed by ferry boat -which we decided not to do- these three beaches were created by unique soil shores that form natural bays, resulting in a breathtaking view by the crystal waters of the Aegean sea.

We stoped on some few pitstops to admire the view and also to get some yummy Freddo Capucinnos, the best one being in Akrotiri, the little cafe located on the main corner of the town. Following Artemis recommendations, we headed to Megalochori Village. Megalochori is one of the most picturesque villages on the island. Its existence is recorded back to the 17th century. Home to historical mansions, old traditional houses, pirate hideaways and wine canvas, it has a history of merchants and wealthy land barons exporting Vinsanto wine that the island still produces. We had lunch at Petrino , located on Megalochori central square. Not only was a great location but also our restaurant of choice was the one that became fully packed in comparison to the other two that were next to it. We had some fried calamari and fresh tomato pasta. We left little room for dessert in another beautiful spot near by.

The other mini town and historical settlement Artemis recommended was Pyrgos, few kilometers away from Megalochori. Damn, those narrow tiny street, what a headache for my out of practice driving skills, and also, I’ve never driven such a small and cute car before, so my space and surrounding awareness was almost inexistent. Thank God for Mau’s road love. According to Greece-is.com “Pyrgos, the largest preserved village on Santorini and the island’s former capital. Strategically built in the heart of the pre-volcanic hinterland and at the foot of Mount Profitis Ilias, Pyrgos affords panoramic views (...) although its charm is different: more subdued, less picture-perfect, little advertised”. We found the best table, of the best restaurant in Pyrgos. It’s call Penelope and it’s also family owned. We had some delicious espresso with the best view, underneath the main bell tower. Divine. Magical.

We continue to explore the 2 missing beaches we had left, which happened to be the largest ones in Santorini as well. Empty, only few solo travelers were there. Perfect to rest on the now free beach chairs and beds by the sun. They are right next to each other on the southerneast point of the island. Perissa Beach and Perivolos Beach were our last contact with Santorini waters, yet it was too cold to jump in. We decided to go straight to the northern point, passing Oia, to watch the sunset in a more secluded, less touristy environment: Ammoudi Bay.

We wanted to check out Dimitri’s Fish Taverna (you can’t go more Greek than that!) but it was full and did not take reservations. We went to the area regardless, and when trying to have a seat on the first available restaurant, they didn’t want to give us a table by the shore, but instead one by the aisle. We decided to continue, since there were other restaurants with few tables by the shore, and this was the best thing that could happen to us: we found the feast we didnt know we needed at Sunset Ammoudi. Not only they greeted us warmly and gave us the table we asked for - regardless of it being pre-booked by someone who was late - but also the food, was exquisite.

Never again during my stayed in Greece nor in my life had I tried such a delicious, creamy and perfect shrimp saganaki. With Mau we tend to shared all our dishes so we could try as many things as possible, but man, how I regret sharing this particular meal. It was all so perfect, we should have ordered a double order of everything and avoid the octopus. Although this one was fresh and tasty, it couldn’t compete with the shrimp and with the softly baked and grated feta eggplant. As I’m typing this, all my saliva comes to mouth and I can re-feel its unforgettable taste. These dishes, with the unique sunset, the delicious and fresh white wine and being on the edge of the pier -literally-, was the highlight of Santorini and the perfect way to greet our trip goodbye. Next morning Mau was flying to Napoli and I was taking a ferry to Mykonos. So, au revoir my friend, I’ll see you around sooner that we think! So glad and happy to have shared all this beauty with you!

Ammoudi Bay is indeed a must-go hidden spot. When everyone else is focused on Oia (with true reason, since the view is exactly as you pictured and imagined it) this bay is quiet, has a fresh breeze that messes up with your hair, leaving it a little bit saltier than before and it’s located exactly below and opposite to Oia. It’s hard to reach, since there’s only a secluded route by the shore, or you can also take the famous Greek donkeys down from Oia. Although picturesque, I guess due to EU laws as well as international pro-animals movements, there weren’t as many as I thought they might be, yet you can see - and smell - random donkeys roam freely around the island.

This sunset, with the evening mist, the sea scent and the feast flavor happening in my mouth, reassured me, one more time, that Greece makes me happy. Mamma mia!, blue clothes, abba sing-a-long happy. You should give it a try. Trust me: you wont regret it.

#santorini #greece #island #greeceislands #greekisland #mammamia #oia #imieroviglie #fira #travel #love #beauty

0 notes

ladystylestores · 4 years

Text

The Ultimate Hiking Guide to Torres del Paine, Chile • The Blonde Abroad

Alex of Roam & Thrive is here to share her ultimate guide for hiking Torres del Paine in Chile!

As one of the most Southern National Parks in the world, Torres Del Paine is a place you’ll want to visit at least once in your life. Desolate, wild and unforgiving the Torres Del Paine is pure nature with scenery that will surprise, delight, and have you reaching for your camera again and again.

Here in Patagonia, you’ll experience a different world, one that you’ll never want to leave once it’s captivated you with its magic. Having lived in Chile for the last 5 years, I’ve visited the park twice now, once trekking and once experiencing the park as part of a road trip and I’d highly recommend the former.

Here’s the guide for how to make your trip to Torres Del Paine the best trip yet!

When to Visit + Seasonal Tips

Due to its extreme southern location, the Torres del Paine is a seasonal destination. Most people visit from December – February, during Chilean summer.

At this time, February especially, you can expect the park to be at its capacity with many people on the trails. The wind and rain can also be a problem in the park and the windiest and wettest months are January and March.

In my opinion, the best time to visit the park is at the beginning of December or at the beginning of March—most of the crowds have dispersed but it’s not yet too cold to not camp.

If you’re feeling brave, visiting in the winter (May-September) is also an option but you’ll have to stay in hotels rather than camp and be prepared for limited hours of daylight.

How to Visit + Get There

From Santiago, the easiest way to get to Patagonia is to fly to Puerto Natales, the town closest to Torres del Paine National Park. LATAM, Sky Airline and JET Smart all offer flights to Puerto Natales, but only in the summer. If you’re traveling in the low season you’ll have to fly to Punta Arenas, and from there take a bus to Puerto Natales. The ride takes about 3 hours.

If you’re arriving from El Calafate in Argentina, you can take a direct bus to Puerto Natales with a stop at the border.

From Puerto Natales, there are many bus companies that shuttle people to and from the park. The journey takes about 3 hours to get to the start of the trails and buses leave in the morning and then again in the afternoon. In high season it’s worth reserving your ticket as soon as you can.

Helpful Tip:

Flights to Puerto Natales can be quite expensive in high season. If you have more time it might be more cost-effective to fly to Punta Areas and take a bus to Puerto Natales. You can compare prices on the airline’s websites.

If you’re not planning on trekking or staying in the park for a number of nights, you can also rent a car in Puerto Natales and take day trips to the park. While you do miss some of the best views, driving the park is a great option and the views from the road are simply indescribable.

What to Bring

Outdoor & Waterproof Clothing

Whatever your itinerary you’ll need comfortable outdoor clothing for all seasons. You are more than likely to experience all four seasons in one day and it’s not unheard of for the temperature to fall to 40°F/5°C in the evenings in summer.

If you’re trekking, a good pair of already worn-in hiking boots are essential.

Camping Gear

If you’re doing the famous ‘O’ or ‘W’ treks and you choose to camp without having rented it out from the campsite, you’ll need all camping gear such as a tent, mattress, a winter sleeping bag, and cooking equipment. It’s worth having a high quality, waterproof tent as sometimes, the rain and wind are relentless.

If you don’t have your own camping gear but you still want to do some trekking, rental shops are available in Puerto Natales. Most gear rents for about $5 per item per day. You can also rent an already assembled tent, mattress, and sleep bag at the campsite and this can be booked when reserving accommodation.

Food

On the ‘O’ or ‘W’ treks, when you book them most campsites have a full board (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) or half board (lunch and dinner) option. Going for this will mean you’ll have to carry less weight and you get your meals cooked for you.

You can also bring all your own food and cooking equipment and prepare it all yourself. This is perfect for those with a lower budget and wants more of a wild camping experience. Make sure you plan all your meals ahead and buy all your food in Puerto Natales.

Other

Headlamp — for moving around after dark. Kindle/Book, + Playing Cards — In the evenings there isn’t much to do so you’ll need to bring some entertainment. I’d highly recommend a Kindle- it’s lightweight and fits many titles onto it. Small Padlock — On the ‘W’ or ‘O’ trek you’ll be leaving your tent unattended a few times, bring a small padlock so you can lock your stuff inside. Reusable Water Bottle — There are water sources located at all the campsite so bring a reusable water bottle with you to avoid using plastic bottles. Camera — Needless to say the Torres del Paine is extremely photogenic so don’t forget your camera- you’ll have it in your hand most of the time.

Glacier Grey

Itinerary Options

There isn’t one way to experience the Torres del Paine and there are non-trekking ways to see the park too. The most popular way to experience the park is by trekking the infamous ‘O’ or ‘W’, routes named after the shape of the trail they take.

Trekking the ‘W’ Circuit

The ‘W’ is the park’s most popular circuit and it can be trekked in either direction. It takes 4-5 days to complete and I’d highly recommend you assign a full 5 days to not feel rushed.

The trail has a ‘W’ or a pitchfork shape which means that you do have to double back on yourself often, however, due to this, there are sections that you can walk without your heavy backpack. On the ‘W’ you can expect to see stunning high passes with views for miles around the park, pristine lakes, glaciers, rugged granite peaks as well as a variety of local flora and fauna.

Trekking the ‘O’ Circuit

The ‘O’ Circuit consists of hiking the ‘W’ trail with a northern extension. It’s this extension, especially the steep John Gardner Pass that makes this trek longer and more difficult than the ‘W’ but absolutely worth the extra effort.

It takes about 7-9 days to complete and due to the lack of refugios in the Northern Side of the park you’ll have to camp, making camping gear essential for this trek.

As a result, this trek is definitely less crowded than the ‘W’ and the views from the John Gardner pass are simply incredible. Note that the ‘O’ should only be trekked in a counter-clockwise direction due to the steepness of the pass.

Sample Itinerary

This is my exact 5-day itinerary for what I did when I trekked the ‘W’. I chose to walk from west to east to get the most difficult part of the trek out of the way first. The West side is the steepest. You can also condense it and do it in 4-days if you’re pushed for time.

Day 1 – Puerto Natales – Pudeto – Paine Grande – Glacier Grey

Catch the 7/7.30am bus from Puerto Natales and get off at Pudeto ready to take the ferry across to Paine Grande. Prior to getting to Pudeto, you’ll pass through Laguna Amarga, the main park entrance. You’ll have to get off here to pay the park entrance fee.

Once in Pudeto board the ferry to Paine Grande. From Paine Grande, start walking to the Grey campsite. Once at the Grey campsite, check-in and set up camp for the night. For the rest of the afternoon, you can relax, walk around the lake and take in the views.

Day 2 – Glacier Grey Viewpoint – Grey Campsite – Paine Grande

Wake up early and start the day with the 1.5hr trek to the spectacular viewpoints of Glacier Grey. When you’ve finished admiring their beauty head back to Grey campsite, have lunch, pack up camp and trek back to Paine Grande. At Paine Grande check in to your campsite and set up camp again. Spend the day relaxing and resting.

Day 3 – Paine Grande – Mirador Frances – Mirador Britanico – Frances Campsite

After an early breakfast pack up camp and make your way towards Mirador Frances. To save you having to carry your backpack any further, stop at Italiano campsite and leave your big rucksack in their reception area. You can then continue on with a lighter pack.

We managed to get to Mirador Frances and continued to Mirador Britanico—however, if the weather isn’t good, people say there is no point as you can’t see anything. We had good weather so we did it and the views were stunning. From there make your way back to Italiano campsite, grab your rucksack and head back down to Frances campsite, set up camp and rest.

On this day you can choose to stay at either Italiano or Frances campsite depending on the distance you want to walk. If you prefer a slightly shorter day (2km shorter) you can stay at Italiano.

Views over Nordenskjold Lake

Day 4 – Frances – Los Cuernos – Chileno Campsite

Pack up and leave Frances campsite in the early morning, making your way towards Los Cuernos, from where you can view and admire the expanse of Nordenskjold Lake. Continue along the side of the lake until you reach Chileno campsite. Check-in and set up camp. Spend the rest of the day relaxing and make sure to get an early night.

Day 5 – Chileno – Mirador Las Torres – Puerto Natales

Wake up before sunrise to start the trek to Mirador Las Torres, the most famous viewpoint in the park. The best time to see it is at sunrise. The trek takes about 2hrs 15 mins from Chileno campsite, so you’ll need to check the sunrise time and plan accordingly.

After taking in the amazing view of the sun lighting up the three jagged peaks and taking some photos, make you way back down to Chileno campsite. Have lunch and pack up your things and descend down to Hotel Las Torres. From here either catch the shuttle bus that goes to Laguna Amarga or walk. From Laguna Amarga take the bus back to Puerto Natales.

Where to Stay

Campsites

When trekking the ‘W’ or the ‘O’ you might choose to camp. Camping is the cheapest type of accommodation and ranges from $8-$20 a night depending on the campsite. Most campsites are equipped with bathrooms and showers and a restaurant where you can get meals for about $15-22 per dish.

If you don’t want to carry your own camping gear, everything can be rented from all the campsites except the free CONAF ones.

Tents are already assembled and you just have to set up your mattress and sleeping bag. It’s a great option for those not wanting to have to assemble camp after a full day’s trek.

Bear in mind that these tents have to be reserved in advance.

Refugios/Shelters

Another type of accommodation, perfect for those not wanting to camp or carry heavy camping gear with them. Refugios are basically beds in a shared cabin—exactly like a hostel dorm or sometimes in a private cabin.

The benefits of refugios are that they are warmer than tents and you’re protected from the elements a lot more.

Depending on the refugio, you can expect to pay between $60-80 per bed. If you’re planning to stay in them during high season, you’ll need to book them in advance and by in advance I mean 6 months or even more, in advance. It’s safe to say beds sell out extremely quickly.

Hotels

There are many hotels scattered around the park, most of them occupying beautiful locations in front of deep blue lakes and windswept valleys. They are mostly luxury hotels and a night can set you back about $300 in high season. A spa treatment, champagne breakfasts, and dips in their heated pools are great ways to celebrate the end of your trek.

Refugio in Torres del Paine

How to Book Your Accommodation

If you’re planning to hike the ‘W’ or ‘O’ circuits, it’s crucial to make reservations in advance for camping spots and refugios.

Due to the growing popularity of the park, there simply aren’t enough campsites and space for everyone who wants to visit. It’s not uncommon for all campsites to be booked out completely for the summer trekking season (Jan/Feb) by the previous November.

There are three different companies that own all the campsites in the Torres Del Paine Park and it’s more than likely that you’ll have to reserve with them all. They are Fantastico Sur, Vertice Patagonia and CONAF. To reserve your accommodation you can do so directly from their websites.

First decide which way you’ll be walking the circuit, then plan your route and which campsites or refugios you’ll be staying in, and finally go on to each of the websites and reserve them all.

Here is a list of which companies own which campsites to make it easier for you to make your reservations. Only the CONAF campsites are free and basic. All the others have showers with hot water, toilets, cooking areas, cafeterias etc.

CONAF: Camping Italiano (free campsite with no showers and basic amenities), Camping Torres

Fantastico Sur: Camping & Domes Frances, Refugio & Camping Los Cuernos, Refugio & Camping Torres Norte/Central, Refugio & Camping El Chileno

Vertice Patagonia: Refugio & Camping Paine Grande, Refugio & Camping Grey

What to Expect

The Torres del Paine really has what I believe to be some of the best hiking in South America, if not the world. Expect incredible views, icy deep blue lakes scattered with icebergs, giant glaciers creeping down craggy valleys, and the iconic towers—fingers crossed it won’t be too cloudy to see them.

Expect to see lots of other trekkers and make friends along the way. If you’re you’d like to hike the trails solo and if you’re wondering if the park trails are too isolated the answer is no, at least not in high season. Going solo is perfectly safe and you’ll make friends in no time.

Know Before You Go

The entrance ticket for the Torres del Paine is $21,000 CLP for foreign adults (about $27 USD). You don’t need any kind of hiking or trekking permit.

There are many sources of drinking water along the trek at the campsites and refugios so you don’t need to worry about bringing bottled water with you. I would strongly recommend bringing a reusable water bottle with a powerful bacteria blocking filter which will allow you to also fill up from lakes and streams. The water here is extremely pure but it never hurt to be a little more careful.

You can hike both the ‘O’ or ‘W’ independently or as part of an organized tour.

The main advantage of the tour is that you won’t have to carry any camping gear and you can choose where to sleep. It also involves little planning. When doing it independently you’ll have to plan the trek yourself and reserve all your accommodation months in advance, if going in the high season. The cost is, however, considerably lower.

Wild camping is not permitted. You can only camp in designated campsites.

There are many places to dispose of your litter at the campsites. Please don’t leave litter anywhere else outside of these designated areas. Let’s keep this amazing corner of the planet clean.

For more information about Chile and other places to visit before or after your trek, check out my website, Roam and Thrive. Other posts you might find useful are:

Source link

قالب وردپرس

from World Wide News https://ift.tt/3cJIyt2

#World Wide News

0 notes

willehonne-blog · 4 years

Text

Stuart’s Nutrition Tips

Hello WilleHonne

The reasoning behind this is from time to time, I will be putting together an information article relating to various aspects about cycling. I have been in the sport for a few years now and rubbed shoulders with some top-notch cyclists and have managed to learn some tips and tricks when it comes to riding a bike that just makes it that much more fun.

Without further delay, today I want to discuss on the bike nutrition with you guys. Contrary to popular belief, cycling nutrition is not rocket science and there is no need to over complicate it. Contrary to the banting movement, when it comes to exercise, carbs are king. If you want to go far do banting, if you want to go far and fast carbs are where it is at. The current studies have proven this time and again that a fat adapted cyclist is still slower than one eating a high carb diet and the main reasoning why people “run out of energy” is they just are not eating enough to sustain the work that they are doing.

With that been said let’s get into some numbers. The general rule when it comes to carb intake for cycling is that a cyclist needs to take on 60 g of carbohydrate in an hour period. Now this is a very vague number and most of the time dependent on a number of factors and hence I shall give a few indicators as to the strategy I would use on a day to day basis. A ride under 90 min, with no efforts/intervals is considered a recovery ride. A ride such as this I will take on minimum carbohydrate, probably around 0-30 g per hour, as a ride such as this is done at a low intensity ( which naturally will be fueled more by fat than carbohydrate) and in a glycogen (bodies way of storing carbohydrate in the liver and muscle) surplus stage. Thus, there is no real need to heavily fuel this ride. This goes for commutes, rides with your spouse, starvation rides (More on this at another time) or a walk. Once we start going past this threshold, the body can only store a limited amount of glycogen and hence fueling your ride becomes increasingly necessary to avoid the dreaded bonk. Anything over this time I would start fueling my rides with anything between 30 g and 90 g per hour of a multi strain type carbohydrate (Sorry just having coke isn’t going to cut it). If the intensity of my ride is fairly low I would tend more towards the lower end of the spectrum, taking into account the hours I am doing, if the session is of a high intensity or not and finally the training I have for the next day, I would consume closer to 90 g per hour.

So now that we have got the numbers out the way, what does this look like in food. As most of you know I am sponsored by Cadence Nutrition, so a lot of my strategy revolves around their products and what they supply me with. However, I will not limit it to just these products. So practically speaking if I were to embark on a 90 min recovery ride all I would take is a bottle of juice with one scope of Carbofuel which has around 40 g of carbs in it. This takes care of both my hydration and carbohydrate requirements for the ride. Once the hours start to increase and I have a 3hr ride, I would take 2 bottles of carbofuel with me at normal strength giving me 120 g – 160 g of carbs and I would then take one of their bars with me for the ride adding an additional 40 g and possibly a gel depending on the day which adds a further 21 – 23 g of carbohydrate making for a total of 160 – 220 grams of carbohydrate.

Now when It comes to racing or interval sessions, the intensity at which I race is basically as hard as I can go for as long as I can go and the same goes for intervals they are just more structured. This requires a huge amount of fueling to ensure that I can get to the finish line as well as prevent cramping. I arrived at this formula shortly after Sani last year and has been serving me well, and by simplifying the formula it made it easy for me to follow. Marathon style events take anywhere from 2h30 to 5 hours and thus require anything from 220 g to 450 g of carbohydrate. The way I go about achieving this is I start on the start line. I will consume either a bar or a gel 15 min before the race to ensure I’m topped up before we get going. I will then have a gel at 30 min into the race and things start to settle down whilst constantly sipping juice. At the top of the first hour I shall have a bar followed by a gel 30 min later and another bar 30 min after that. I will continue with this pattern of having a bar and gel every hour until the last hour of an event and things start to heat up at which point ill switch to just gels and will have one probably every 20 min, all this while having around 2 bottles every 2 to 3 hours. As you can see this is an exorbitant amount of fuel to be taking on and I honestly would not recommend just going out and doing this when your next race comes along. The gut, like your muscles, is highly trainable and you are able to, over time, teach your body to process large quantities of carbohydrate fairly easily. It just requires gradual introduction of more carbs into your rides. This been said, the body can only absorb around 60 g per hour of a single strain of carbohydrate and so it is vital to mix the source up. Cadence has taken care of this by having a 2 to 1 ratio of fructose to maltodextrin which allows me to consume large quantities of it. However, for those of you who would like to fuel your rides through other means, it will just require some for thought into how you go about fueling. Bananas are an excellent form of carbohydrate ( preferably erring more on the over ripe side as the carbohydrate is more easily absorbed), peanut butter or Nutella sandwiches with white bread, rice cakes ( I will try find the recipe to make them as its not the cardboard version you find in the stores) and home made date bars are all really great ways of reaching your carbohydrate intake, they do tend to carry a lot of fibre with them which will slow down absorption to some degree and can lead to GI distress if large quantities are consumed but unless you at the pointy end of the race I don’t see this been to much of an issue.

I know this sounds like a large amount of information to sort through, but I would really recommend finding out what works for your body and what you are able to enjoy on the bike. Once you figure this out do a handful of your bigger rides and slowly work your carbohydrate intake up until you feel like when you finish your ride you don’t need to inhale the fridge at the end of it. This, in my opinion, is when you know you have fueled right and helps prevent you overeating at the end of the ride. For those who would like the date bar recipe, take a handful of medjool dates, some dried fruit (I like cranberries) and some almonds or mixed nuts. Put them in a food processor until the mixture combines (can take a while depending on the blender) roll them into ball or bars and enjoy.

Hope this helps everyone and please don’t hesitate to ask if you need some help.

#nutrition #willehonne #passion #cycling #cyclingforlife #mtb #fuel #growthepack #tips #energy

0 notes

topfygad · 5 years

Text

5 Days (More or Less) – I am Aileen

Explore parts of Vágar and Streymoy Islands

After you land and pick up your rental car at the airport, I highly advise that you don’t go straight to Tórshavn yet (which is likely where your accommodation will be) because there are some nearby spots around the airport that are worth looking into!

You might be thinking, “I can visit those later!” — sure you can, but the thing is… they’re quite far and to save time, I think it’s best that you visit them ASAP while you’re in the vicinity. (Otherwise, you can visit them on your last day on your way to the airport, depending on your scheduled flight back.)

◘◘ Visit Sørvágsvatn Lake If you want to see one of nature’s mind-blowing ‘optical illusions‘, make sure that you drop by Lake Sørvágsvatn (also called as Leitisvatn). It is the largest lake in the Faroe Islands and it has been dubbed as the “lake over the ocean” — this is because if you go up a certain angle, it will appear as though the lake is floating directly above the ocean! The lake is just 40 meters above sea level with a magnificent waterfall at the end of it that’s called as Bøsdalafossur.

To get here, set your GPS and near the location or by the church in Miðvágur, you will find signs to “Trælanípa/Bøsdalafossur”. Follow these signs until you find a parking spot. You will then find a gate and you must start walking from here to the south towards the ocean by following the gravel path. The hike takes about an hour (one way) and in order to get to the spot that shows the iconic ‘illusion’, you must go to the southern tip (not on the southwest end of the lake). You will know if you’re in the right place when you see 3 small sticks sticking up or if you see a steep hill. (Doesn’t matter if you end up at the wrong vantage point because every angle is stunning here! But if you really want some more specific instructions, go to this page and scroll to page 36 to 37.)

• • •

◘◘ Drive to Gasadalur to see Mulafossur Waterfall This is yet another iconic landscape in the Faroe Islands which is just an 18-min ride away from Vagar Airport. As you will see from the photo above, the Mulafossur Waterfall is a grand sight! It is nestled within this small village of Gasadalur and there are 2 ways to see it: with minimal effort and with some effort. What do I mean by this? You can see this glorious spot by car as you do some short walking from the main road; or if you’re a dedicated hiker, you can do a hiking trail that the villagers used to take before the car tunnel was built.

TRIVIA: Gasadalur used to be one of the most isolated places in the islands. Residents had to hike through 700-meter mountains just to get in and out of the village! After the car tunnel was built, access to the town got a lot better, but to date, the residents here still number at only 18!

Since I didn’t have much time (and a bit tired from my flight), I opted to just drop by here with my car as I enjoyed the waterfall and do a bit of strolling in the village itself. If you want some more detailed tips for this place, like how to find the trail that leads to this vantage point and how to do the longer hiking trail itself, check out my guide found here: Gasadalur & its Mulafossur Waterfall

• • •

◘◘ Check-in to your hotel The central city of Tórshavn is where you will find most of the islands’ accommodations and it’s a strategic place to base yourself in for all your adventures around the islands. But of course it can get cheaper if you get places outside of Torshavn, but for the best capital picks, they would be the following. Luxury: Hotel Foroyar / Mid-Range: Hotel Hafnia or AirBnB / Budget: Kristjanshavn or AirBnB

I stayed over at a guesthouse with a local though and unfortunately, it’s not really a place you can book — but I wish it was because the house was in the traditional style and it was so cozy with a great view of the sea and a river!

• • •

◘◘ Explore the village of Saksun Like a natural amphitheatre, Saksun is a splendid remote hillside village that is known for its serene atmosphere. The place where it lies now used to be a deep inlet in the sea (fjord) and during low tide, you can walk along the lagoon’s sandy shore which is found at the foot of the village.

Whilst here, make sure you check out the village’s church and Dúvugarðar, a farm that houses 300 ewes — which also functions as a museum.

• • •

◘◘ See Fossá waterfall This is the largest waterfall in the Faroe Islands at a hight of 140 meters. Located near the village of Haldarsvík, this waterfall has two cascades that falls down to the sea. If I may share a tip, it’s best to come here after some heavy rainfall because that’s when it becomes even more spectacular!

TRIVIA: Fossá in Faroese means “river with waterfalls”

• • •

◘◘ Dine at Barbara As the night falls, you can choose from an array of restaurants that speckle the city of Tórshavn; but if I may suggest, go and dine at Barbara Fish House! It has a great menu that consists of Faroese seafood dishes; plus, the place itself is quite charming given that it is built into the rocks.

Kalsoy and Gjógv

Rev up your car, wear good shoes, pack up some food and sail to the nearby island of Kalsoy! You can spend a whole day here to explore its various sights. If you still have time by the end of the day, you can drop by the charming village of Gjógv.

◘◘ Take the ferry to Kalsoy Kalsoy is like a flute-shaped island due to its thin shape. You can reach it by ferry along with your car by driving from Tórshavn to the port of Klaksvík (this is a 1-hour drive). It’s best to catch the first or earliest ferry to Kalsoy’s Syðradalur port so that you’ll have enough time to explore the island. To check the timetables, see this page (take note of the departure times as well so you can time when you will have to drive back to port). Take note: it’s not possible to book in advance so you have to pay on the spot (DKK 160 for one vehicle), and if you’re coming with your car, make sure you arrive there 15 minutes before departure.

Once on the island, there’s no need for maps because there is but just one highway with lots of tunnels — make sure that you watch out for sheep because they can come up anywhere and block the road, seemingly seeking for some sort of showdown.

First, I recommend that you go straight to the north to Trøllanes not only to see the surroundings of the village but to also hike up the mountains to see Kallur lighthouse because the view here is superb. I actually had a hard time finding the trail that leads to this place because there are no signs that lead me to it. Thankfully, my companion and I saw a tour group by the road who were headed to the lighthouse and they gladly invited us to join them.

Basically, somewhere on the road before the village, you will find a small red gate along the fence. This is closed but you can open it — most of the gates in the island are closed not for people, but for sheep. Once inside, you just have to climb up the hill toward the north direction until you see the white Kallur lighthouse. With this in mind: make sure to wear good and comfortable hiking shoes! Rest assured, the climb up isn’t that hard but it can get a bit steep.

On the way back, make sure that you stop by the village of Mikladalur to visit Kópakonan, or the “Seal Woman”, which embodies one of the popular folktales in the islands. Made of bronze and stainless steel, it stands above a rock near a waterfall with a great backdrop of the mountains and the sea. The legend that surrounds this is quite sad and dark though and you can read all about it here.

TIP: Pack your own lunch and snacks because I personally had a hard time looking for a restaurant in Kalsoy. There was a canteen in Mikladalur but it only served snacks.

• • •

◘◘ Visit Gjógv Just an hour away from Tórshavn, this is the northernmost village in Eysturoy island. Nominated by the Nordic Council for the Nature & Environmental Award in 2014, this well-preserved town is nestled by mountains on all sides and filled with traditional houses that are made of timber and turf roofs. For those who are fond of hiking, there are also several trails for you to do here! What’s one thing that you absolutely must NOT miss? it would be the natural harbour that they have which is a picturesque gorge.

• • •

◘◘ Dine at Aarstova Once you’re back at the capital, have some more classical Faroese dishes — but this time around, try some fine dining at Aarstova!

All about mountains

The way I see it, the Faroe Islands is a hiker’s dream paradise! In fact, almost all of the best landscapes can be seen via hiking.

But for those who don’t have the stamina for such things (like me), don’t fret because there are hiking trails that are at an easy level. …Yet if you could push yourself — by all means, do so! I have personally done a difficult hike up the mountain of Villingardalsfjall, and I was so glad that I pushed myself to do it even if my legs were about to give way because the view that I saw up high was one of the most jaw-dropping landscapes that I’ve ever seen in my life!

» READ: Hiking Trails in the Faroe Islands

Anyhow, if you think you can’t really do any moderate to high level hikes, you can spend this day visiting the villages of Saksun or Gjógv if you haven’t managed to do so in the past days. You can even revisit the past spots I’ve mentioned if the weather became a lot more favorable for this day.

◘◘ Go up Slættaratindur (Hiking difficulty: medium) Towering at 880 meters, Slættaratindur or “flat summit” is the highest mountain in the Faroe Islands so it’s an absolute must-see! According to Guinnes World Records, this is the world’s longest sight line because due to the light bending effects of the atmosphere, the largest glacier in Inceland called as Vatnajökull can be seen from here on a clear day (aside from the fact that you can have awesome views over the whole Faroese archipelago). For complete hiking instructions, go to this page and scroll to page 22 to 23.

• • •

◘◘ Conquer Mt. Villingardalsfjall This is the hike that I was talking about — as a non-hiker, this has been one of the most difficult hikes of my life but also one of the most rewarding (together with Norway’s Trolltunga)! The whole hike to the top takes 3 to 4 hours with a distance of 6 kilometers yet at a steep height of 841 meters. I can talk on and on about this place, but I think it’s best that you read my blog post below to read more about my experience as well as to see the other views you will witness from its summit:

Hiking Faroe Islands’ Stunning Mountain of Villingardalsfjall

• • •

◘◘ Go on top of Sornfelli Mountain Good news: this does NOT involve hiking. The top of this mountain plateau near Hotel Føroyar can be reached by car and reaching its amazing viewpoint will only take you a 30-meter walk.

A Mykines kind of day

Mykines island is a favorite in the Faroe Islands! You need a whole day for this mostly because the transportation to the island usually only happens in the morning, and the ride back in the afternoon. Regrettably, when I visited here, the weather wasn’t good. In fact, once we arrived at the island, we were stranded in a small cafe together with other tourists as we waited for the heavy rain and strong winds to pass.

It still ended up as a great day though because we met a lot of interesting individuals — one of which was a well-known harp player from Ireland who was on tour at that time and who gladly played songs for everyone. Still and the same, before leaving the island, my companion and I braved the rain so that we could at least glimpse at the cute puffins that live on the cliffs!

Anyhow, it’s my wish that you get a good day so that you can see the great sight below.

◘◘ Explore Mykines There are 2 ways to reach Mykines: by boat or by helicopter. Remember how I said that helicopters are subsidized by the government of the Faroe Islands? With that in mind, I highly suggest that you take a one-way helicopter trip to this island by booking in advance! I say one way because Atlantic Airways’ helicopters mainly service a round trip route to Mykines in the mornings only from Vagar Airport. To see the complete timetable, see this page. For the boat or ferry, timetable can be found here.

Once on the island, you can hike from the old turf-roofed-filled village to the lighthouse which is at the western end of the islet of Mykineshólmur. If it’s summer time, make sure to visit some clifftops to see an endless sea of cute puffins nestled in the burrows. After all, this is called as the “paradise of birds” so take advantage of this fact and do some birdwatching while you’re there!

As you wait for your ferry back to Torshavn, take your time exploring the small village. One important thing to take note of though is that if you take a helicopter to the island from Vagar Airport, the ferry will land somewhere else and it’s at the port of Sørvágur — so if you parked your car at the airport, you have to do a 20-minute walk back, or you can take the 300 bus. (Details here).

TIP: Much like Kalsoy, it’s advisable to pack your own lunch and snacks. There’s a small cafe in the middle of the village but it mostly serves light food.

NOTE: Just recently, a new policy has been set that tourists have to pay DKK 100 to travel to the Mykineshólmur lighthouse for maintenance of the birdlife and nature on the island. This fee includes a certified guide to ensure that everyone sticks to the path and not disturb any of the local fauna. For more information, you can contact the Visit Mykines office.

• • •

◘◘ See Kirkjubøur Assuming that it’s summer, by the time that you come back to the main island, it will still be light outside so if you could, make a stopover at Kirkjubøur. One notable attraction that you must see here is the huge black building at the center of the village that is called Kirkjubøargarður. It’s arguably the oldest inhabited wooden house in the world with over 17 generations of the same family that’s living there (there are sections that are turned into a museum). It even once housed the episcopal residence and seminary of the Diocese of the Faroe Islands.

You could also visit the old churches that they have such as Magnus Cathedral and Saint Olav. And if you go by the shore, you will see two old stone houses.

Before capping the night, while you’re already in the area…

• • •

◘◘ Have dinner at KOKS I highly recommend this restaurant since I have dined here myself! What’s special about KOKS? Well, it has been awarded as the best restaurant in the Nordic countries in 2015 by the Nordic Prize; plus, it is also the first and the only Michelin star restaurant in the islands. The restaurant which only uses local ingredients is housed in a private house that has been turned into a guest room, and it has an open kitchen where you can watch the chef and his assistants cook (but there is a bigger kitchen in the back).

Dining here is obviously not cheap, but if you have the money to spare, I urge you to give it a try. I’ve dined all over the world and this is one of the best places I’ve ate in. Besides, they surely know how to do pairings!

Basically, dinner here is a tasting menu and you can choose to pick your own drinks or choose their wine pairing or juice pairing set — YES! You read that right, juice pairing! This might sound boring to you but their juice pairings were simply phenomenal. I never though that fresh juices can be mixed in such ways that would perfectly complement a dish. Aaaah… simply put: I hope you get to try it to experience a truly gastronomical feast!

Explore the rest of Tórshavn

We’re now on the last day and I think it’s time to fully explore and enjoy the main capital of Tórshavn. Let yourself get lost in the city’s small streets; if not, you can take your pick from the array of activities below…

◘◘ See Tinganes and the center town Tinganes is an area where you can see a beautiful clutter of red wooden houses. These are one of the oldest parliamentary meeting places in the world that once functioned as a meeting place for Vikings. Today, it houses the office of the prime minister. You will rather find the Faroese parliament — the Løgting (‘Law assembly’) — a few streets down. What’s great about this area too is that there are enough signs and plaques to explain the history of the place.

• • •

◘◘ Shop for souvenirs at Öström Go over to the waterfront and you will this store that’s housed in an old factory building. They sell products made in the islands itself such as traditional clothes, wool sweaters, postcards, posters, and other design products. For sure, it’s worth looking into!

• • •

◘◘ Try horseriding You can experience a magnificent horseriding experience in and around Tórshavn and you can do it with the tour provider, Berg Hestar, who uses Icelandic horses. The experiences vary in difficulty and price range but take note that it’s only allowed for 7 years and older. To protect the horses, there’s also a weight limit of 95 kilos. To book your spot(s), check by their website here.

• • •

◘◘ Sail with RIB62 to Hestur This experience will grant you a unique perspective to the Faroe Islands as you sail by the most remote and breathtaking sights that the islands have to offer — one of which is to circle around the nearby island of Hestur. RIB62 tailors tours upon request every day of the weak so feel free to contact them for inquiries. (Departure for this boat tour is from Gamlarætt which is 15 minute away from Tórshavn).

from Cheapr Travels https://ift.tt/2PCBIzj via IFTTT

#IFTTT #Cheapr Travels

0 notes

oneheartblog-blog · 6 years

Text

Where Did Ikea Folding Gym Mat Get The Idea From?

Check out http://www.oneheartblog.com/ikea-folding-gym-mat-get-idea/

Where Did Ikea Folding Gym Mat Get The Idea From?

The Ikea Folding Gym Mat

When you go into Ikea children section, you will find that there is a new product called PLUFSIG folding gym mat. It consists of 5 rectangular panels and is foldable into one single panel. Folding gym mat is such a brilliant idea, especially to modern families. When the gym mat is folded, it saved a lot of storage space; when it is unfolded, the mat still gives you a decent amount of space of comfort and protection.

This colorful gym mat comes in two color sets: green and pink. It is selling at $34.99 USD or $49.99 CAD. The price is quite affordable. You could easily find a tiny kitchen foam mat pricing from $40 to $350, of course, it all depends on quality. For something that is affordable to the majority of families, PLUFSIG is not a bad choice.

Now Look at the Quality

PLUFSIG folding gym mat comes in a decent size. It is approximately 72-inch long x 30-inches wide unfolded. It has a thickness of 1.25 inches. Ikea recommends this product to children 18 months and older, and users cannot wash, bleach, tumble dry, iron, or dry clean the gym mat. As a parent of two, although I like the idea of folding gym mat, I’m hesitating about this product because it looks hard to keep clean. When I let my children play, I let them play freely. So, making a mess is almost unavoidable. I’m almost certain that the mat would get really messy after a few times of play. Imagine: they drool, they sweat, they bite, they may even have potty accidents on it. So, not being able to clean the gym mat properly is a big drawback.

Another thing to consider is: I bet most parents would hope their infants could use the mat too. For whatever reason, sometimes you just don’t want to put your infants down on the floor, while putting them on a bed is a big no-no, and putting them back to their crib is impossible. Sometimes, a mat is really handy! However, Ikea’s folding gym mat is recommended for children 18 months and older. It makes everyone think twice about letting their infant use the folding gym mat. Is it safe for baby? Would there be any potential risk? Is 1.25 inches thickness enough for baby protection? Would my baby ruin the mat and put me in the situation that I couldn’t even able to clean the mat?

Well, since Ikea put that note of recommended age and cleaning to this product, it’s better safe than sorry.

Why we need a Folding Gym Mat?

For infant:

Infants constantly explore the world and absorb new knowledge of the world. Instead of laying them down on the floor (that is hard) or carpet (where many invisible germs were hiding), we can put them on a mat. A big enough mat allows infants to stretch, try different movement as they grow, play with their toys, etc. They start laying on the mat, then roll, then sit, then crawl, and eventually, they try to stand up and walk.

For toddlers:

In general, toddlers start learning to walk sometimes around 12 months to 18 months. In the learning process, they try, they fall, and they try again. So, falling is part of the learning process. We need a folding gym mat for toddlers because we want to protect our children from getting hurt when they fall. We don’t want them to bump their heads too hard and for too many times or break their arms. A folding gym mat serves the purpose and is easy to store away.

For young children:

Rough-and-tumble play is very common among young children, especially boys. It is actually good for them. (Read more here.) In this stage, we do need a fairly large gym mat to allow young children to play. They could play toys, read books, do gymnastics, etc.

The Original Folding Gym Mat, If you would say so…

Way before Ikea folding gym mat appears in their stores, there was already a brand of high quality folding gym mat in the market: dfang’s d-folder. Dfang is a Korean brand. They make high quality, non-toxic, and eco-friendly mats for children.

Everybody knows that in North America, the quality and safety standards for children products are very high. Dfang, the manufacturer of d-folder, expertise in manufacturing children mats. Their products have exceeded the very high standards and entered Canada with certifications. D-folder, the Korean folding gym mat is made of non-toxic PVC materials. It has been tested and proved that the materials used do not release toxins, such as formaldehyde and other heavy metals.

What is Good about d-folder the Korean folding gym mat?

Anti-Scratch & Waterproof

The surface of the folding gym mat has an anti-scratch coating that makes it nearly impossible to make a scratch on it. At the same time, the surface is waterproof. That saves a lot of headaches over spilling fluid on. A simple wipe will do much of the cleaning. Furthermore, an all-new no stitch technology allows it to seal the inner layer from the outer layer without any risk of leaking fluid through stitches. We all heard of how the liquid leaked into Sophie the giraffe and have moles and fungus grew inside while your loved ones are teething on it. This could potentially be very harmful and disgusting.

Anti-Fatigue

All of the above sounds very good, what about the most important function we all want to know: Shock absorption.

d-folder folding gym mat comes in about one and a half inches (4.0 cm) thickness with an anti-fatigue feature, aka shock absorption, pretty much like the ergonomic kitchen mat you can see or test out in kitchenware stores. This folding gym mat is not just spectacular in shock absorption, but also good at noise absorption. Extra cushioning protects children from hard impact or falling on the mat. 95 inches x 55 inches unfolded outsize and out-thick PLUFSIG mat in a landslide.

Minimalist Design

Another plus point is that the mats come in modern minimalist designs. A few years ago, children playmats usually are very colorful with cute animal cartoon characters on it. Even though the playmats are still in perfect situations, the bigger children now find the pattern too childish, and the parents find the baby-ish playmat doesn’t go with the interior design of their home.

The good thing about d-folder folding gym mat is that if it’s not in use, you can fold it and store away, but if you prefer, it is also a piece of great taste furniture. Open it and put it in the living room, it adds value to your room. You can even do Yoga on the mat, too!

Do you need a Folding Gym Mat? Where to Buy?

Child safety is always the top priority in a family. We are grateful that in North America we have a very high safety standards and regulations regarding child products. It gives most parents a peace of mind when choosing and buying children products.

To conclude, if you want an affordable or only need a short-term use of a folding gym mat. Ikea folding gym mat will do the job. Its dimensions are 70″(L) x 30″ (W) x 1.25″ (T), selling at $49.99 CAD.

If you have multiple children and looking for something safe, sturdy, long-term, and stylish, d-folder folding gym mat is the best. Its dimensions are 95″(L) x 55″ (W) x 1.6″ (T), selling at $399.99 CAD at Yutopia. Tip: sign up their newsletter and get 10% off! It does ship free too.

Like other quality car seats or strollers, this high end, baby-proof quality products come at a cost. This spectacular D-folder folding gym mat may cost more than the Ikea folding gym mat, but if you really concern about your children, this is one of the best options you could find in the market.

Parklon Space Folder Mat "Sweetie" 5 Panel 140x250

Price: $328.96

[Alzip Mat] Baby Playmat - ECO Color Folder Duo (Non-Toxic, Non-Slip, Waterproof) (Eco Duo Gray/Pink, SG)

Price: $269.99

We Sell Mats Tumbling Exercise Folding Martial Arts Mat, Pink/Purple, 2

Price: $149.95

‹ ›

jQuery(document).ready(function() var CONSTANTS = productMinWidth : 185, productMargin : 20 ; var $adUnits = jQuery('.aalb-269-product-carousel-unit'); $adUnits.each(function() var $adUnit = jQuery(this), $wrapper = $adUnit.find('.aalb-269-pc-wrapper'), $productContainer = $adUnit.find('.aalb-269-pc-product-container'), $btnNext = $adUnit.find('.aalb-269-pc-btn-next'), $btnPrev = $adUnit.find('.aalb-269-pc-btn-prev'), $productList = $productContainer.find('.aalb-269-pc-product-list'), $products = $productList.find('.aalb-269-pc-product'), productCount = $products.length; if (!productCount) return true; var rows = $adUnit.find('input[name=rows]').length && parseInt($adUnit.find('input[name=rows]').val(), 10); var columns = $adUnit.find('input[name=columns]').length && parseInt($adUnit.find('input[name=columns]').val(), 10); if( columns ) var productContainerMinWidth = columns * (CONSTANTS.productMinWidth + CONSTANTS.productMargin) + 'px'; $adUnit.css( 'min-width', productContainerMinWidth ); $productContainer.css( 'min-width', productContainerMinWidth ); $products.filter( ':nth-child(' + columns + 'n + 1)' ).css( 'clear', 'both' ); if (rows && columns) var cutOffIndex = (rows * columns) - 1; $products.filter(':gt(' + cutOffIndex + ')').remove(); function updateLayout() possibleColumns < productCount ? possibleColumns : productCount; /** * The actual columns can be zero when the wraperwidth is less than sum of CONSTANTS.productMinWidth and * CONSTANTS.productMargin.The parseInt will use floor function and converts any value less than 1 to * zero.Therefore making actual columns 1 . **/ if( actualColumns == 0 ) actualColumns = 1; var productWidth = parseInt( wrapperWidth / actualColumns, 10 ) - CONSTANTS.productMargin; $products.css( 'width', productWidth + 'px' ); /** * Removing the Carousel navigation button when the number of products selected by admin is less * than the actual columns (the number of products) can be shown on screen **/ if( productCount > actualColumns ) $btnNext.css( 'visibility', 'visible' ).removeClass( 'disabled' ).unbind( 'click' ); $btnPrev.css( 'visibility', 'visible' ).removeClass( 'disabled' ).unbind( 'click' ); $productContainer.jCarouselLite( btnNext : '#' + $adUnit.attr( 'id' ) + ' .aalb-269-pc-btn-next', btnPrev : '#' + $adUnit.attr( 'id' ) + ' .aalb-269-pc-btn-prev', visible : actualColumns, circular: false ); updateLayout(); jQuery(window).resize(updateLayout); ); ); /*! * jCarouselLite - v1.1 - 2014-09-28 * http://www.gmarwaha.com/jquery/jcarousellite/ * Copyright (c) 2014 Ganeshji Marwaha * Licensed MIT (https://github.com/ganeshmax/jcarousellite/blob/master/LICENSE) */ !function(a)a.jCarouselLite=version:"1.1",a.fn.jCarouselLite=function(b)return b=a.extend(,a.fn.jCarouselLite.options,b,a.fn.jCarouselLite.options=btnPrev:null,btnNext:null,btnGo:null,mouseWheel:!1,auto:null,speed:200,easing:null,vertical:!1,circular:!0,visible:3,start:0,scroll:1,beforeStart:null,afterEnd:null(jQuery);

#Folding Gym Mat #featured #Home &amp; Kitchen #Lifestyle

0 notes

chefbstrikesagain · 7 years

Text

MY PARENTS IN MALAYSIA

I feel like a shell of the human I used to be after a marathon of a week with my parents. Desperate for some sort of routine and 2 years of sleep I'm slowly adjusting back to life without them. What I didn't realize was how exhausting entertaining for a week would be. Explaining and translating a new language, ordering food, figuring out suitable accommodations, talking about my future, and so so so much driving are just the beginning of the trip. However, that being said, it was such a fun time showing them around my home for the last 8 months in the country that i've grown to know and love despite its abundance of geckos and lack of western toilets. I'll give you an idea of what our days looked like but remember, this are only a small glimpse into what actually happened. Documenting cultural exchange, moments of appreciation for life back home, or a new developed sense of understanding are all things hard to explain in words so you'll have to ask my parents about it!

DAY 1: The date was August 31 and it was brutally sunny and humid, yet again, in good ole' Malaysia. I made my way to the airport feeling oddly nervous to see my parents after the last 8 months of being apart. Fortunately, the airport in the city is fairly small (with only 2 terminals) which makes it really easy to park and pick people up at their gates like you see in movies! I had a 50/50 shot of getting the right gate and was unfortunately waiting at the wrong one. After just 10 short minutes I bee bopped to the other gate and there they were! Luggage in tow and surprisingly looking great. I imagined them in a rough state after their 18 hours of travel but I think the adrenaline took over and they seemed ready to explore a new country on the other side of the world. We loaded up the bags in the car and my dad went to get in (but opened the wrong door) I think they forgot about driving on the opposite side of the road here- and they marvelled at the Nissan Almera. Just kidding, but they were surprised how much room the car had for having a sewing machine for an engine. We made our way out of the parking lot to the hotel which was just a short 15 min drive.

We listened to Malaysian radio on the way back from the airport and took the scenic route along the waterfront. Malaysian and Sabah flags flew proudly everywhere as the day they flew in was 'Merdeka Day' aka Freedom day which lasts for one month in Malaysia. I told them to keep their expectations low for this vacation, as on their last vacation, they were in 3 giant cities in Spain. This was definitely going to be a more rugged, change of pace than walking around Park Guell in Spain with a glass of wine. We changed in the hotel room into our bathing suits and made our way down to the pool. Mom and Dad were surprised at how nice the Hotel was... We stayed at the Hyatt in Kota Kinabalu and it was one of the only 5 star hotels in the area. At the pool we played catch up and Dan Moore started yelling about drinks. About an hour in, my parents realized how strong the equatorial sun really is as they were both burned. It's not like going to the beach in New England where you can stay all day no problem. We left the pool, showered, and got ready to grab an early dinner. We went to El Centro, one of my favorite places, for pizza and margaritas. Afterwards, we headed to a rooftop to watch the sunset sink down into the South China Sea. Dmoore was falling asleep in his chair watching the sunset and he ended up sleeping at 7:30pm.

Day 2: We woke up really early on day 2, mostly due to the fact that dmoore was up and impatiently bopping around the room. I wanted to take them to my favourite curry restaurant for traditional food- but realized everything in town was closed! It was second raya or Eid which meant that it was a public holiday and everyone was at home celebrating with family. We walked to the waterfront where dmoore leaped across a storm drain gap (approx. 3 feet) where his legs gave out from underneath him. He coined the nickname DJ reckless for the rest of the trip and certainly lived up to the name with the hospital trip...something I'll get to later. We walked back to the hotel for breakfast where we had an incredible buffet full of noodles and even some western food. Mom and dad both tried mee hoon soup with vegetables and dad also had nasi lemak- the national dish of Malaysia. We changed into our bathing suits and booked island tours off the coast of Kota Kinabalu. It was another great day for island hopping and we spent about 4 hours total on 2 separate islands. We stood in the water, which was pretty much empty, as all the Korean and Chinese tourists were staying to stay out of the sun to stay pale and beautiful. After a few hours of lounging we grabbed lunch and took the boat back to our hotel. We changed quickly and I took mom and Dad to the City Mosque.

The mosque is a giant floating structure that overlooks the ocean. It's coloured with cobalt blue tiles and is entirely white- definitely a sight for sore eyes. In order for my mom to enter, she had to cover completely, which meant renting a tundong (Malay word for Hijab). Check out the pictures- she certainly rocked the outfit! We didn't spend too much time at the mosque as prayer was happening soon so we left and headed towards the mall. We grabbed sushi for dinner which was incredible. I force-fed mom and made her try the smallest bite of sushi which she openly protested but in the end I think she liked it.... My dad was shocked at the cost of the whole dinner which came out to be 12USD or 4USD per person. In the US, that much sushi would have easily been $60. This was a theme for the rest of the trip. Every meal was converted and my parents faces would light up when they realized they spent 4USD to feed the three of us as well as 1 of my friends.

Later that night, my mom and I explored the hotel and found the hidden gym and then grabbed drinks while DJ reckless had a business call to make at 8:30. Joey joined us for drinks around 10:30 and we stayed up until midnight which was late for them.

Day 3: We checked out of the hotel around 9:30am and made the 3 hour drive up to The Tip of Borneo where we would stay for 2 nights. We listened to a bunch of podcasts and made easy conversation about things we passed along the way including cows, stray dogs, and why the gas stations were always so full. When we finally reached our destination, called 9 Huts on a Hill, we pulled in and were surrounded by geese, chickens, and bamboo huts. The cutest little woman greeted us at check-in and had us sit down while she offered us some water. Mom broke out into a laughing attack from trying to take in everything (chickens and bamboo huts) and had to put her sunglasses on to conceal her tears. It looked like she was having a nervous breakdown. I understand because it was definitely a downgrade from the 5 star hotel but the accommodations turned out way better than the first impression.

The huts were pretty much open air concept as the front wall could be broken down. There was a queen sized bed with a mosquito net over the top and an A/C unit and fan to keep you cool at night. Each hut had its own bathroom and shower which was a huge plus (not a squatty potty) so Cathy was happy. After settling in we ate dinner and explored the complex. We were on a big hill right above the ocean, complete with a giant yoga platform, a kitchen, and a 'chill zone' that had a bunch of hammocks to hangout in. We dragged a fan out from a room and drank beers and finished a bottle of wine while watching the sunset. Pretty great first night. We turned in around 10pm for some much needed rest in our comfortable beds.

Day 4: We woke early (around 7:30) no surprise there...and headed into town for our first Malay breakfast!!! I ordered mom and dad roti tulur (egg bread with curry) and tea tarik which is tea mixed with condensed milk. They loved it so much they each ordered 2 glasses of tea. They were also pleasantly surprised with the roti they had for breakfast. We paid (3 USD) for breakfast and made our way to my friend Robbie's beach at the secret place. We spent the whole day drinking at Robbies in the water and marvelling at the beauty and just how untouched the land was. I'll let them describe to you how amazing this place was because I talk about it all the time- but ask them!

We grabbed dinner again at the curry house after we showered and said goodbye to Robbie and his family. We finished the second bottle of wine that night under the yoga platform where it monsooned shortly after sunset for the rest of the night. Definitely a recipe for a great nights sleep which we needed to prepare for the marathon days we were going to have in Ranau and the rest of the trip.

Day 5: We checked out of 9 huts and made the dangerous drive from the Tip of Borneo to my small town in Ranau. It's dangerous because we were driving up and down mountains, some roads were non-existent, and landslides were everywhere. The signs said the hills were on average 16% grade either going up or down - if that means anything to you. Despite the dangerous drive it made for incredible views. You could see so far and just how mountainous the area I live in really is. We arrived to my house around 2pm where 40 of my students greeted my Mom and Dad! They were so excited to meet them and of course, take selfies. After about 5 hours of small talk and pictures, we left the open house with two of my students and grabbed some food in town at restaurant Muslim. We talked about ghost stories, possessions, and how the street I live on is haunted- just normal dinner conversation. We dropped off the students around 9:30pm and headed back to my street where we parted ways for 9 hours until the next morning when we had school.

Day 6: If you've made it this far into the blog post, congratulations! I'm exhausted and distracted just from writing this so if you're still reading one thing is sure- you definitely don't have ADD! Wahooo. Anyways, Tuesday morning, day 6, was probably the craziest day my parents had while in Malaysia and they were such troopers the entire time. We woke up around 7am to get to school by 8 which was my first class. My class is with form 1 and 2 girls (ages 12/13) and who all live at the school. They don't have good English at all so we usually do some sort of art as a medium to communicate with one another. My parents brought sidewalk chalk to school and we drew the city of Boston's skyline. This was a great medium and the art turned out beautiful. My mom even had some of the girls lay down on the ground holding hands and she traced them all. She told them that when I was little she would trace me and I would colour in my body with clothes and hair and a face. Dmoore wasn’t as approachable and some of the girls told me in Malay that he’s so serious. It’s tough to communicate with young children when you don’t know the language. Their shyness can be misinterpreted as disinterest, which is usually the farthest thing from what they actually want. After saying goodbye, we had class with 4 Bersih- which is one of my favourite classes. These students are older and already have a good foundation in English which means I can teach more intricate lessons that go deeper than colors or numbers. I split the class up into 4 groups and gave them all category titles. Seasons, Food, Sports, and Slang all having to do with Boston. The students then had to interview my parents to get the necessary information and do a short, creative presentation on what they learned. They all did a great job and some of the presentations were hilarious - especially the Boston Slang.

After school, we left and grabbed lunch before our paragliding session! I convinced them both to jump off a mountain which I never thought would happen....After paragliding we went to a fish farm where you stick your feet in a river and a bunch of fish swim over and supposedly suck the dead skin off of your feet. Mom was freaking out the whole time and barely put one toe in the water. Afterwards, we grabbed dinner at the Sabah Tea plantation where we overlooked vast green tea fields and Asian mountains. Mom and Dad ordered more Tea Tarik and achieved a new level of sugar high before we had to leave for our next event. After a dinner of butter chicken and vegetables we made our way back to our house to shower and get ready for drinks out on the town. We had about an hour to relax before I picked them up and made our way to the 'Kolam'. In the middle of the jungle there is a fish pond place where you can order lots of food and drinks. My parents were shocked that there was any sort of habitable life that far in the jungle and not one mosquito. They were able to try Lihing, which is the local traditional rice wine, and they seemed to really like it. Doreen got them a cake that said ‘Welcome to Ranau Mr. and Mrs. Moore’ which was really nice of her. After eating some quick we decided that we should leave as the drinking was really starting to go downhill.

Day 7: After waking up tired and hungover we made our way to school for the last day. My first class on Wednesday’s is arguably the best class of the week with the special needs students. They always get so excited to see me and just all around have great energy. My parents had a warm welcome by the Teachers and worked with a small group of students on practicing the letters ‘I’ and the letter ‘S’. While working with the students the teachers were setting up for a small breakfast in the kitchen. They had coffee and small finger food, known as quey, for my parents to try. It was so nice of them to organize this- I had no idea they were going to do that! After making small talk about our trip and what life was like in America we said our thank yous and goodbyes. We left class and then headed to my next class with form 4 amanah which we were a little late for. The students are all crazy, in the best way possible, and I talked with them before about teaching my parents a traditional dance that we do in Sabah called the Sumazau. The students moved the desks and led my parents to the center of the dance floor where they instructed them how to dance while I blasted the music. I got some great videos on my go-pro and will be sure to post some pictures. We left that class after giving out some chocolate coins, and headed to a form 6 class who are all pre-university and about 18 years old. This class was harder to plan for as they are less willing to be really outgoing, so we did a lesson on Malaysia where they taught my parents about the major Holidays observed. This class sort of dragged on and I could tell my parents were getting tired so we ended class early and with a giant selfie.

After school, we grabbed a quick lunch of martabak sayur and headed to the famous Poring Hot Springs. We enjoyed a butterfly garden, tree-top canopy walkways, and a short hike to a 50 foot waterfall! Poring was great but it was such a hot and humid day we were just ready to relax. We headed home and I got to nap for 2 hours before Doreen asked us to dinner. When we showed up to dinner I just expected Doreen and maybe her husband to be there. I was not prepared for 10 teachers including the principal to show up. There was a big buffet and mom couldn’t stop talking about the pumpkin soup. All in all, Doreen really pulled out all of the stops while they were here- I really appreciate everything she did. Shortly after dinner, when all of the muslims left, we drove to a bar down the street with Ravi, Rose, Zeddy, and the three of us started drinking Tiger. Ravi kept ordering set after set and him and my dad were really getting along. Two kindred spirits for sure. After making a deal with Ravi that we could leave when all the beers were done, and no more sets to be ordered, we escaped and said our goodbyes to everyone as that was the last time my parents would see them. We laughed on the drive home about how funny the night was and were all looking forward to sleeping in the next morning.

Day 8: Dan Moore woke up super early, no surprise there, and was itching for me to connect my phone to his so he could browse the internet. With tired eyes and an attitude, I quickly connected our phones and closed my eyes for another much needed hour of sleep. We woke up and headed to the sports complex where we got ready to rent ATV’s. The paths the guide was taking us on were super overgrown, bumpy, and on the side of a mountain. All of these factors made it really hard to control the ATV. Dmoore was driving like an absolute savage and the guide and I kept exchanging worried looks when he would slam the gas instead of the break and narrowly avoided hitting one of us. Inevitably, something went wrong and we found ourselves in the emergency room for DJ reckless. In hindsight, it’s all really funny now but at the time I was nervous how this was going to impact our plans - especially if his ankle was broken! The hospital did an x-ray and said they didn’t think it was broken… but they would need an MRI to be sure about any other injuries. We asked for crutches and they told us that they were ‘finished’ no more crutches left.

We left Ranau with DJ reckless in the backseat and headed towards Kota Belud for a Proboscis river monkey tour and to grab lunch with my friends Janna and Kelsey. We found crutches at a Pharmacy in their town which really saved the day and made dmoore much more mobile and less hoppy. We ate lunch on a lake about a 10 minute drive from the ocean where we talked about the future, my parents trip, and the elephant in the room - dmoore’s swollen ankle. After lunch we went to my friend Jessi’s house where she lives with a Malay family and had tea and quey while we waited to go on the river monkey tour. We boarded a small boat and set off down a muddy river surrounded by jungle on all sides. We saw a giant monitor lizard, mud crabs, and the monkeys! It was hard to see the monkeys because they were so far but it was great to see them in the wild and in their natural habitat vs. a Zoo. The tour was really cool but I was really looking forward to firefly tour which we had to cancel because it was getting late and would be hard to fit dinner in with Claire later on. After saying goodbye to Jessi we grabbed a quick dinner with Claire before continuing the trek on into the city. We arrived at our hotel and we got ice for DJ recklesses ankle and gave into our craving for Western food and ordered pizza hut. Mom and Dad were so happy to be back in a clean, air-conditioned hotel room, while I was trying to live up the last few days before going back to reality (dirty water and fried rice). Mom and I went souvenir shopping and then we all turned in early that night.

Day 9: The last dayyyyy. We were able to sleep in until 9! We gathered our tired and sore bodies and headed to the hotel breakfast. The buffet overlooked the ocean and you could see all the small ferry boats shuttling people from island island to island like scurrying ants. We took extra coffee and tea from the buffet and brought it to the rooftop where we sat in the shade and tried to digest everything we’ve done over the last week. This inevitably led to DJ reckless ordering a healthy drink (coconut and cucumber juice) with a twist - just add vodka. We spent pretty much the whole day at the rooftop pool in and out of the water and shade ordering food and drinks. Dan and Cathy needed to get as much sun as possible as this is ‘it’ until next summer. Live music began around 7pm and was this awesome band doing covers of really mellow music- Maroon 5, The Carpenters, etc to give you the vibe. With an ocean breeze ruffling our hair, drinks in hand, and soft music in the background I knew we did good and was so happy everyone made it through the week alive. We definitely had some close calls with DJ reckless but nonetheless, a great time. Mom had been craving frozen yogurt all day and used our drunkenness to get us down to the first floor of the hotel where the mall connected to the hotel. Dmoore and I ordered tea in the piano lounge where a performer was just wrapping up playing. I waited until he was well out of earshot and began to play- it had been over a year! We ended with a really choppy version of Billy Joel’s piano man while dmoore was on vocals singing into his frozen yogurt like a microphone.

Overall, the week long trip felt like an eternity but also I blinked and then it was over. I feel so grateful that Mom and Dad flew all the way across the world to see me. It really validates my whole experience here and I know when I go home I can talk about it and someone will understand what I mean, or be able to relate past ‘oh that sounds cool’. I have really made a home for myself here and integrated myself into the community and it will not be easy to leave- especially with my students. I am also so happy they were able to come with open minds and hearts and experience a Muslim country in a time where it is unsafe to practice Islam in America. I hope they can help be a voice for the misunderstood and an ally against discrimination where it has become so normalised in the media to highlight a minority for their issues. Malaysia has become apart of me over this past year and I’m so happy the people that are closest to me are able to understand how this country and culture has shaped me.

0 notes