#this was so much longer than i originally planned 😭

[benjibots]

GHIS IS ME ENABLING YOU GIVE ME THE SEPHIRAH SCRUNGLY'S CORES YO SUPPRESS

OKOKOK SO. im putting this all under a cut because its long as hell. this is mostly how i think they'd function in the game, but includes minimal details [it was not minimal god help] on why shits fucked

Keuoh's unlocks first out of the two, and after the middle layer Sephirot's cores have been suppressed.

What I focused on here is his ability to open and close the doors of containment units. His responsibility is usually to keep these shut. He doesn't here, the fucker.

Throughout the day, he will cause sporadic qliphoth meltdowns, and cause things to breach at certain meltdown levels. This selection is random.

During his event, the trumpet borders that show at the corners of the screen show indefinitely until the core supression is over with, the warning level gradually going up as the day goes on. Keuoh your core suppression would be awful if it were actually in the game. Hod bless.

This is the song I've kinda associated with it,, I associate Keouh with many an Everhood song. This one specifically I imagine playing in the background tbh.

Peirché's core suppression unlocks after Keouh's core has been suppressed.

Peirché has a hostile breach!! Like An Arbiter and Red Mist. I've been calling it Pink Smoke [after the Scary Jokes song] as a placeholder, but this is subject to change lol

I don't have specifics sorted out for his yet. All I have down is that he has a chainsaw. Bro got into the Residential Departmen's supply closet. It's harder to work out specifics as quickly for him JDHJAFJ

These are the songs I associate with his core suppression, though they're subject to change as I figure more stuff out. Ordered based on how early/late I think they'd play.

OKAY NOW TO WHY SHITS FUCKED.

For Keouh I already went on my whole spiel about him. Angela is waiting for him to die or slip up in some way that gives her an excuse to terminate him. He is also extremely broken, in a literal sense. His problems boil down to not wanting to die yet and grappling with the fact that it happening in the near future is an inevitably in his eyes, whether it be him getting terminated or succumbing to his damage. He's given up, and yet he doesn't want to let go.

Peirché hates it here. That's the short version. It's all just bubbled up to the surface and come out as an infuriated outburst. He seems to be the type to get used a lot, though he isn't naive to this fact. He simply lets it happen, even if he isn't exactly content with it. Kindness requires sacrifice or whatever.

As this went on, though, resentment started to build up inside him. Resentment for the people who do take advantage of his kind will. However, hearing about how Keouh, literally his best friend, had been treated is what pushed him over the edge.

Well, it's that combined with the fact that he was expected to have his work shoved onto him, being forced to shoulder someone else’s burden again just because the idea of giving those duties to another department was 'a waste of space'. Plus the fact that Keouh didn't trust him enough to tell him. He doesn't hold any anger towards him for it, they do end up talking about it, but it's definitely at least a bit of a factor here.

Basically, mostly unrelated things cause Peirché's emotions to overload, and become the catalyst for a completely different problem. He's tired of being treated like dirt by his peers. Why should he have to suffer for being nice? If the simple act of being kind means being trampled over, maybe he'd prefer to be mean and scary instead.

mentally ill robots yaayyy!!!!

#THANK YOUUU FOR LISTENING TO MY DUMBASS RAMBKES JESSE THANK YOUU #SMILEE #this was so much longer than i originally planned 😭 #i love rambling about these idiots feel free to ask about them always and forever #lobotomy corporation #lobotomy corporation oc #oc: keouh #oc: peirché #alphabet soup

[reiding-writing]

HI AT FIRST I WANT TO SAY CONGRATULATIONS, AND I REALLY LOVE YOUR WORKS, LITERALLY ALL OF YOUR WORKS OMGGG

can i get a fic for number 22 and 23 of the general dialogue prompts for the climacteric event? maybe with a little angst at first but end it with a fluff?

THANK YOU SM, ILY ANGEL<3333

REUNION [CLIMACTERIC]

22. “I think I missed you more than you missed me.” 

23. “I thought I’d lost you.”

WARNINGS: minor spoilers for the prison arc, bro is just a little guy who needs a hug fr

spencer x gn!reader | hurt/comfort | 0.8k | climacteric event!!

a/n: THANK YOU <3333 a little less angsty than originally planned but full of wonderfully sad emotions 😭

main masterlist!! ⋆｡°✩ event masterlist!!

After 84 days of damn near radio silence, you were finally standing in front of Spencer Reid again.

He looked thinner than before, dark purple bags collecting under his eyes and cheekbones more prominent under the harsh florescent lighting. His hair was longer, curling over his forehead and at the nape of his neck, and there was no spark in his gaze anymore, his scleras a blank slate of absolutely nothing; Like all human emotion had been washed away in those short three months.

Except it didn’t feel short.

It felt like the longest god damn three months of your life and you weren’t even the one in the prison. You can’t imagine how long it felt for Spencer.

But at least now he was home.

Home and safe. For the most part anyway.

“Hi,” You speak almost breathlessly, wringing your hands together behind your back to suppress the urge to just throw yourself at him in relief that he wasn’t suffering behind bars anymore.

“Hi,” God how you missed his voice, flowing through your ear canals like silk and making you melt at his greeting like he’d recited some niche romantic poetry in your ear.

He looked like he was holding back just as much as you were. His fingers tugged the cuffs of his sleeves against his palm, and he traded gazes between you and the floor as he swayed ever so slightly on his feet in an attempt to relive the nervous tension running through his body.

It was like the two of you were locked in a stalemate, neither wanting reach out under the shared knowledge that you’d both break if you do.

But you’d waited eighty four days to see him again, and god would be damned if you had to wait any longer.

“I missed you…”

You swear you can see Spencer’s self-restraint shatter the second the words leave your mouth, and he takes a step forwards to anchor his hand around your back and pull you against his chest, his head pressed securely against your shoulder as he breathes you in.

You return his efforts fervently, bringing your arms up to rest over his shoulders with one splayed in his curls as you hold him tight to you, like you’re afraid it’s the last time you’ll ever get the chance to do so before he disappears again.

“I think I missed you more than you missed me…” His words are muffled against the cotton of your shirt as he buries himself as deep into your embrace as he can, his hands connecting together behind your back as he squeezes you as securely as possible.

You wouldn’t be able to get out of his hold if you tried, but that was the last thing you were worried about.

“That’s not true,” You shake your head against the side of his, sighing next to his ear as you turn to speak into his hair. “I really thought you weren’t coming back… I thought I’d lost you…”

You swear Spencer sinks further into your arms as you confess your lingering worries even though it isn’t humanly possible with ho tightly you’re holding onto each other already. “I’m here… I’m okay…”

“I’m so glad…” Your voice cracks, and that’s it.

You knew you’d break once you finally got him in your arms again, but this has gotta be a record.

Your shoulders begin to tremble softly as the first tears leave your eyes, and Spencer unlinks his hands to rub them in lines over your back.

And then you’re sobbing into his shoulder. Your tears dapple the beige-grey of his blazer, leaving dark stains in their wake, and the hand wrapped around his back leaves wrinkle in the fabric from how tightly you’re holding onto him.

It doesn’t take long for Spencer to mirror your emotional state as he turns his head into your neck, the moisture of his own tears falling down the line of your neck and under the collar of your shirt.

In any other instance you’d probably find it mildly uncomfortable, but you didn’t exactly have the mind to care right now. You finally had Spencer in your arms again, that was worth anything.

#spencer reid x reader #spencer reid #criminal minds #criminal minds x reader #spencer reid angst #criminal minds angst #spencer reid fluff #criminal minds fluff #mgg #climacteric 🪶

[concreteparasite]

Hello Concrete! I had a question about your Binary star IF but if you're not answering questions like these please ignore me 🙏

I was replaying the IF and I noticed background information about Ray that I had missed. His background sounds really interesting with steel something (I forgot their name sorry 😭 also he tried to hurt Ray?? excuse me? how dare he) and what happened when he was 16 years old. If possible, and if it isn't too much trouble, could you share some more information about his past?

So, Ray was basically raised in a government facility until he was 16. They had him train to be a hero (i.e., weapon of war) and 'collect' abilities. When the Southern War was carrying on a bit too long, the NAHA decided to deploy heroes, one of those heroes being Ray. This was to test his destructive ability and his loyalty to the NAHA. Ray 'succeeded' in the eyes of the NAHA, and as a reward (and a media distraction/ cover-up), he debuted as a hero when he returned from the war.

Ray was not given the tools or time to able to process his traumas from the war. Instead, he was immediately pushed into adopting the mask of Binary Star.

Ray at this time was also 'adopted' by Steel Sheriff because he was not yet an adult. Steel Sheriff did not want to adopt a kid, but seeing as he recently assaulted a woman in a cocaine induced stupor, his image needed a facelift. So once again, him 'turning a new leaf' as a dad to a lovely adopted superhero boy was GREAT media, and the people ate it up. Unsurprisingly, Steel sherrif did not become a better person nor turn a new leaf. He often ignored Ray, drunkenly bringing strange women and men to their house in the middle of the night, having arguments (verbal and physical) with these men and women. Ray sometimes having to break up the fights himself. Steel Sherrif only spiraled further, sometimes taking his anger out on Ray, who took it. Well, he took it until he didn't anymore.

There was no catalyst as to why Ray stood up for himself. Simply, at that moment, the numbness he felt started to outweigh the terror. Ray fought back, he fought back, and he won.

Steel Sheriff, from that point forward, ignored Ray completely and would hardly return home. Ray moved out of Steel Sheriff's home the minute he turned 18.

Ray to this day can't bring himself to truly hate Steel Sherriff. Steel was the one and only parental figure Ray ever had. Ray, at one point, resolved to confront and kill Steel Sherriff. He flew to Oklahoma, where Steel resides. When Ray finally saw Steel, he saw a pathetic, weak, withered old man. An old man who could hardly move and was dying from kidney failure.

Ray stood and stared for a while, frozen. What once was his object of terror and anger became no more frightening than a shot deer, dragging it's bleeding leg along to find enough shade to die. Steel called out weakly that he knew Ray came to kill him, and to just get it over with. Ray couldn't bring himself to look at the man any longer, he left him there alive and human. It's a complex feeling, one hard to describe or explain. I'm not even sure if it can be.

So that's basically Ray's story with Steel Sherrif. When I was originally planning out the story of BSH, I was mulling over the idea of MC going to visit Steel Sherriff to learn more about Ray. I decided it was better not to.

#binary star hero #bsh #binarystarhero #binary star hero vn #bshvn #binarystarherovn #yanderevn #visual novel #yandere #datingsim

[freedomfireflies]

I would love to read a blurb from you about H taking care of his newborn baby boy 🥺

Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t—

Harry’s hands shake as he slowly reaches down into the bassinet to retrieve the tiny human screaming for his attention and care.

Truth be told, he’s honestly not sure which one of them he’s telling not to cry.

Nevertheless, the squirmy infant begins to wiggle in his large palms as he brings the child up toward his chest.

“It’s okay…it’s okay, you’re all right,” he whispers, doing his best to speak in his most soothing tone. “Another nightmare, huh? S’okay, I get it. I get them, too.”

There’s some wet cooing as Harry cups the child’s bottom and tucks them just under his chin, right over his racing heart. 

He’d read that skin-on-skin contact is crucial for newborns to create a strong bond, so now he spends a majority of his time shirtless just in case the child needs that added comfort.

And if Harry is being honest with himself, he probably gets more comfort out of it than the baby.

After a moment, the fussing begins to subside, and Harry exhales the deep breath that had been caught in his lungs as he unwinds. Then, he moves for the rocking chair in the corner of the room, gingerly taking a seat as the baby begins to fidget in his hold.

“Okay, it’s okay,” he murmurs, swaying them back and forth. “It’s all right, I’ve got you. Daddy’s got you.”

The sweet baby brings its tiny thumb to its mouth, tucking it between small, pouted lips as it begins to settle.

“There you go,” Harry says, lashes fluttering as he looks down. “I know, it’s hard to sleep without her. Especially when it’s all you’ve ever known…”

There’s a catch in Harry’s throat as he glances back up, eyes falling to the side of the bed where she used to lay. 

It’s been three weeks. Only three weeks since Harry had to come home from the hospital alone, and he has absolutely no idea how he’s made it this far.

He doesn’t sleep. Which isn’t unusual for new parents, but it goes deeper than that. He doesn’t sleep because he doesn’t know how. He doesn’t know how to sleep in a bed she’s no longer in.

And he doesn’t eat, either. Because he can’t stand to go into the same kitchen she used to love. The same kitchen she used to spend each of her Sunday mornings in as she cooked them pancakes and listened to French music.

He doesn’t go out. He doesn’t leave their house. He’s a stranger to the outside world and apart from when his mother comes over to babysit, he doesn’t talk to anyone.

It’s just him and the baby now.

And he doesn’t exactly want that to change. He doesn’t want to lose these moments because at least he can pretend that he still has her.

She’s everywhere. Her memory lives within this house. Within their child. He can see her in the baby’s eyes. In the way it tries to smile or reach out and grab onto his thumb when it needs him close by.

And it breaks his heart because their baby will never hear the sound of her laugh or feel her reassuring touch.

He has no idea if he’ll be enough. If he can give this child the life it deserves or the love he knows she would have given them. 

He can only do what she would want him to.

His best.

“She loved you so much,” Harry whispers, cheek pressing into the baby’s head. “So, so much. The last thing she ever did was hold you and tell you she loved you. You were the most important thing in the world to her.”

The child only coos as it slips back into a dream-like state, still curled up against Harry’s bare chest as he rocks them back and forth.

Harry smiles. “It’s you and me now, okay? Us against the world. Us. Always.”

He means that more than he's ever meant anything in his life.

And that’s a promise he doesn’t plan to break.

It's short, I know, but I AM planning a second part so I can explore all the other amazing ideas you guys sent in, I promise!!

Thank you again so much to the original anon, and I hope you don't mind that I changed a couple tiny details! 😭💞

~ Other Harry Blurbs

~ Full Masterlist

#harry #harry edward styles #harry styles #harry styles imagine #harry styles fan #harry styles fanfic #harry styles blurb #harry styles request #harry styles x reader #harry styles baby #harry styles baby request

[muffinsin]

lycan anon here, back at it again, equally as sleep deprived as last time. got my dani concept on the brain. so sorry for the length 😭

succubus daniela dimitrescu. fits her perfectly. succubus daniela dimitrescu, except with a twist. she’s completely inexperienced. brand new, squeaky clean, virgin succubus (where the hell (lol) do they come from? who knows!) that hasn’t been on a single outing- never seduced and drained a single person of their soul, but despite this is CONVINCED she’s the fucking bee’s knees. woefully overconfident and cocky. it’d fool anyone, she’s that good at acting (deluded herself so far into her belief that it comes off as real as a result) and talking big… up until they actually got in bed with her. she probably doesn’t even know how to kiss properly. poor baby needs to be shown how to do everything, but she is extremely eager to learn. continues with her perfect temptress delusion even as she’s actively not doing something well enough and has to be guided to do it better.

daniela is summoned by a (G!P) human mage. they hadn’t actually meant to summon a succubus- they’d intended to summon something else, something powerful that they planned to bind to them and have do their bidding. fucked something up in the spell, and ended up with her instead. but, hey, they won’t let the use of their difficult to obtain materials used during the ritual go to waste. their new plan is to have some fun. no harm in it, they’d pulled out all the stops to ensure their safety during this as a part of their initial plans involving summoning something much more powerful. they quickly discover daniela’s inexperience, and it’s just the cutest fucking thing ever. experienced themself, they take advantage of the opportunity presented to them to play with her and teach her as much as they can. doting on her and feeding her ego. playing along. and dani is sooo convinced she’s in control, entirely unaware of the human’s safety precautions protecting them from her. convinced she’s going to come out of this encounter with a soul under her belt. tricked into thinking this mage is an amateur. up until it’s revealed they’ve decided to stick to their original plan of binding their summoned creature to them after realising the gold they’ve struck. poor, stupid succubaby is made into a pet, complete with a pretty binding collar. and oh, she’s PISSED. outraged. until she’s dominated and fucked dumb by our mage- who is now fully mask off and taking their rightful place as her master- and happily submits. because we know this girl no matter the universe is a sucker for love and attention, and they’re just sooo handsome and sooo sweet to her… so maybe being a pet isn’t so bad after all.

This is some very delicious soup right there!!😳 Sheesh, this got longer than I expected! Not complaining ;)) let’s get into this! ;)

Masterlist 1

Masterlist 2

Daniela gasps in surprise as colours whirl around her and she is lifted off her feet, merely to be appearing someplace completely different. She blinks, attempting to focus her vision again.

She’s standing in the middle of a cycle of burned powder and strange runes, around her she discovers what must be a laboratory. Bottles of alchemy stand on corners and edges, shelves full of books are stacked along the walls. Tables are set up here and there, holding quills and paper full of writing and runes like the ones at her feet.

The temperature in this odd room is warm, pleasantly so. She hears a heartbeat, loud and clear. Excited, or perhaps afraid? She is no stranger to either reactions upon seeing her.

When the auburn haired woman looks up, she finds a human standing against the wall, just behind a desk that holds papers and books full of incantations, as far as she could tell.

Ah, a mage, she realises.

She smirks at the human, then pulls a playful and seductive smile she’s all too familiar with.

You stare right back at her in surprise. You’re no fool and recognize the woman as a succubus immediately. That…wasn’t quite what you were going for.

You mentally face palm yourself. While the woman looks good enough, as it is to be expected of a creature such as the succubus, she is of little use to your plan.

After all, a succubus doesn’t exactly scream “all powerful servant” to you. You almost pity yourself for the countless rare resources wasted on bringing this creature, this woman, here, and setting up this elaborate net of spells and runes as a way to guarantee your safety. All this for a succubus!

You watch her nudge the burnt powder with the tip of her heel. She’s curious, you note. Her golden eyes catch yours when she looks up at you.

Upon confirming it’s safe to leave the summoning cycle, Daniela steps out, a grin flashing and showing off the sharp teeth settled in her mouth. She smiles at you, playful and sweet.

She feels thrilled! Her first hunt, her first victim! A human mage! Sure, she can think of more valuable souls, but she is proud nonetheless. Mother will praise her for this; she is sure! She will be rewarded greatly for taking this defenceless human’s soul! Daniela giggles again, unable to keep her eagerness at bay.

You watch the woman stalk towards you slowly. She’s playful, yet elegant. She’s seductive, you know this. Yet you feel at ease knowing this creature has not true grip or effect on you. You’re safe, so, perhaps, it wouldn’t be wrong to have some fun.

After all, you spent such a long time looking for the materials, ingredients and resources for this summoning ritual. It would be a crime to let it all go to waste.

And, she is really not at all bad looking. You feel your cock twitch under your robes. She’s just your type.

Her auburn hair glows like fire when the reflection of lights and the fireplace flickers on her, her skin pale yet soft looking. Golden eyes capture your gaze. You have never seen any quite like it.

Her face, soft and roundish, is quite sweet. The woman’s dress clings to her tightly, a large V-Cut revealing her cleavage.

Her gloves are slightly bloodied. You can only imagine what poor soul crossed her path before you, their soul taken and body devoured.

You’re curious about this creature. With your soul and mind safe, surely it won’t hurt to play a little. You have been so lost in your work, your cock could do with some stimulation again.

Daniela smirks widely when she reaches you. The little mage hasn’t even moved! She thinks you’re adorable, utterly helpless for her. Now she too understands the thrill of the hunt and the fun of seduction her sisters would always tell her about. She is excited to finally get a taste herself. She knows, she will top any of their performances. She is, after all, twice as seductive and sweet, is she not?

A gloved hand cups your cheek. “Sweet morsel”, she coos. She bites the inside of her cheek, eyes wide.

Your lips fall open.

Now or never, Daniela thinks eagerly.

You hum when lips come crashing against you- clumsily. You don’t think you’ve ever heard of a clumsy succubus.

But that is all she seems like, her lips barely pushing against yours properly. She struggles pushing her tongue inside, and once you feel it in your mouth, it seems she has difficulty knowing how to proceed.

Your eyes open up. Hers are closed, so that she cannot see your confused frown. She pulls away, smirking and cupping your cheek. “Don’t you worry, my love, you will get more”, she promises breathlessly.

Another time she presses her lips against yours. Again, she is unsure about her tongue, it seems.

She isn’t an experienced kisser, you notice very fast. In fact, she isn’t an experienced anything, judged by how she moans eagerly and keeps her hands hovering between you two awkwardly.

This might get be fun to you, you decide. She’s adorable, struggling with the smallest of tasks, a mere kiss.

The little succubus can’t even brush her tongue against yours properly. You fight the urge to chuckle and coo at her. Despite her futile attempts, she is very sure of herself, moaning and smiling against your lips.

You decide to give into her fantasy. This is interesting…

Daniela moans upon feeling you hum against her. Her little pet appears to enjoy her!

You rest your tongue under her clumsy one, allowing her to at last find it and dominate it with hers. Thankfully, the inexperienced redhead seems to be a fast and eager learner.

Next you push against her properly, smudging your lips against hers, opening a little wider against her rather tense ones. She copies you.

You moan when your little succubus finally does it right, cock twitching. She’s simply adorable!

The woman pulls away again, the smallest of blushes on her cheeks.

You resist the urge to take her already. You can tell she’s on guard now. She might be inexperienced and by far too proud of herself for her achievement of making you moan, but is certainly not foolish. You decide to allow the dear creature to cling onto her sweet fantasy and false sense of dominance a little longer.

“Did you like that, little love?”, she coos. She drags her teeth against your skin, as she has done to many before, easily finding the pulse at your neck.

“Yes, give me more, beautiful, please”, you reply, attempting your best at sounding submissive. Daniela smirks against your skin.

You gasp when you feel her at your neck, licking, biting, licking yet again. “Let’s mark you up, my love. You’re all mine now, aren’t you?”

You’re quick to answer, feigning submission as well as the control of your mind. You’re happy to keep your soul, thank you very much, but don’t mind playing along her little delusions. “Yes, all yours forever, my seductress”

Is the little one trying to create a hickey on you? You smile, knowing she can’t see your face with hers hidden at your neck.

This little succubus is becoming more and more fun.

You wonder how much you can teach her. How inexperienced the poor thing truly is. Will she have ever had a cock in her pussy? You doubt it. Your dick twitches as you merely think of fucking a tight virgin pussy.

More thoughts overtake you, of fucking the redhead and cumming inside her over and over, introducing her to your favourite spells and toys and fill all her virgin holes at ones, make her take it all.

You moan loudly at them, and Daniela grins, believing this to be the result of her sloppy work at your neck. She has created bite marks after bite mark on you.

“You fe-eel so gooood”, you moan softly. She blushes, eyes shutting as she feels satisfied. She knew she’d be better than her sisters! Just how fast have you submitted to her will? She’s the best seductress, she knows this!

“Good Girl, my darling”, she coos. You’re caught off guard by this and buck your hips. The succubus giggles.

You wonder whether she even knows the concept of dirty talk, and if so, how so? Possessiveness strikes you for a moment at the thought of somebody else having taught her this. You want this little succubus all to yourself for today.

“Doesn’t that feel nice, my sweet?”, she whispers. You feel her breasts press against you as she leans closer. Her nipples are hard under the dress she wears.

You pay close attention to her words, and smirk as you gasp at her next bite, finding a pattern at last.

My love,

My darling,

My human,

My sweet,

Sweet morsel

It seems, your inexperienced, poor succubus is quite the fool for love and romance. You almost coo at the woman. She’s making it painfully easy for you, yet this foreplay is making your cock ache. You need her to relief you of it soon.

Daniela gasps when she feels your hands on hers, and giggles as you guide them to your breasts, covering them with yours and squeezing. She resists the urge to coo at you, her pet. You’re so desperate for her! It’s adorable!, she thinks

You moan as your breasts are squeezed, her piercing, golden eyes back on you. “Please, my love”, you whimper. Her eyes widen. “You make me feel so good, my darling”

Daniela blushes a little. She can’t believe it! She’s made you fall in love! Of course, this isn’t too much of a surprise to her. You will only be the first of many, in her eyes.

Although she considers asking her mother to grant her you as a pet. After all, you’re her first! She wants to keep you a little longer, even if you are drained of a soul. She’ll make you feel so good!

She licks alongside your neck, humming seductively. She can tell you’re getting closer. Something about your scent is off, though perhaps it’s only the freshness, she thinks. After all, all her previous meat was captured by her sisters and mother, long drained of a soul already.

She moans when she squeezes your breasts and you let out a gasp. “You make me feel so good, Mistress”

Daniela bites her lip, a fang catching onto it. She’s heard her sisters’s pets calling them this before during feeding times. She feels thrilled to finally have a pet of her own!

You grow restless almost. You don’t want to cum in your garments. Certainly not fully dressed!

“Please, take me. Make me yours, my love. Your soft fingers bring me so much pleasure and aching, oh succubus”, you fake-coo. Despite your words being a little false here and there, you do feel pleasure and aching from her. The pleasure she gives you feels good. You occasionally squeeze her fingers and pull them until she treats you right.

The pet names make the poor succubus feel all hot and needy. Daniela gasps at them, eager and thrilled to have someone in such a state. It’s her right, too!

She can’t wait to push you down and make you eat her core!

You almost huff. It seems your little virgin needs a little more of a hint.

“You’re so beautiful”

“Breathtaking”

“My love”

Each soft spoken phrase is accompanied by moans and whimpers, gasps or groans, and does an excellent job of keeping the woman on her high horse of delusion as you move her hands.

Daniela, on her part, doesn’t even notice it was you that guided her hands. All she realises is your torn open blouse and her hand at the collar. Yes, undressing, of course!

You moan when the redhead at last catches on, dragging your top and bra first, blushing adorably at your bare chest despite her futile attempt of covering it up with a smirk.

“Please, I need you so bad. Please”, you gasp. You feel so close. It’s ridiculous how badly this little succubus turns you on even as she is completely powerless and oblivious.

You’ve long decided you’re keeping this one. While not a companion in the normal sense, not nearly powerful enough to defeat your enemies for you, you know she will make a perfect pet for you. Your own, personal cumdump and toy. You can’t wait to explore the virgin’s sensitive spots and weaknesses, to stretch her with your cock.

Your eyes widen and for a moment you’re scared your protection charm has worn off, just as she drops her garments to the floor.

She is, to her credit, not bad at stripping at all. With slow and sensual movements that seem completely natural to her, she has your eyes hooked on her yet again as she drops the gloves first. Next up her dress follows, pooling on the ground.

Your mouth waters. Your aching cock twitches again when large, soft breasts are revealed to you.

She’s adorable and sexy.

The only thing still covering her are thin, black lace panties.

You groan, blushing when she drops to her knees in front of you.

Daniela eagerly pulls down the rest of your garments, and yet her beautiful, golden eyes widen when she discovers the hard cock between your legs. You nearly laugh, yet cover it up with a cough and moan.

The little virgin is completely caught off guard and it’s the most adorable thing you’ve ever seen.

Still, true to her false delusions, Daniela merely smirks and pulls down your underwear, moving her head back when the large cock nearly slaps against her cheek.

This isn’t a problem, she can bring you pleasure! She’s read plenty of books, and even so, you’re utterly hers. She can do whatever she desires…

You groan, hands gripping the table edge and eyes closing shut when you feel her tongue drag against the side of your cock. “Y-Yes! It feels good, please, more!”

She giggles playfully and smirks at your neediness. She can’t wait to tell her family of her successful hunt! How fast her prey gave in and how you begged for her!

More licks. You’re desperate for her mouth on you, yet wonder whether your little succubus even knows of this, let alone how to do it. You reassure yourself you will guide her.

“Please, I ne-eed it….inside, so…bad! I c-aAa! I can’t!”

You’re panting already, close to your orgasm. You force yourself to hold out a little longer. You want to cum down her throat.

Daniela, to her credit, understands the subtle hint. She’s completely into her own world of delusions, giggling and playing with your cock, licking and sucking at spots. It makes you feel dizzy.

You know, you must claim her. You can’t stand to deprive yourself of your ridiculously adorable and seductive pet for much longer.

Daniela hums as her lips wrap around you with difficulty. She gags nearly instantly, and yet it’s enough for you.

She shrieks, noises muffled by your cock, when you thrust forwards suddenly. Golden eyes water and lips part as she gags when thick semen is shot down her throat. The feeling is foreign, and she isn’t entirely sure she can ever get used to it. It feels soft, a little sticky, and warm.

When you pull back slightly, on your way to pull out, and her eyes close contentedly, you decide to strike.

Using a quick and simple rune of retrieving, your fingers clutch around the thick metal collar. Multiple runes and symbols are carved in it.

Daniela shrieks, however, when she feels it snap shut around her neck, your cock slipping out her mouth. She looks up with wide eyes, unsure what happened. Hands come up to cup the collar hugging her throat tightly. She seems to understand.

“How DARE you!”

You can’t hold back your grin. She’s helpless, utterly so, and it’s adorable.

“I am your superior!”

“Uncuff me now!”

“Cease this!”

Daniela’s face is red as she screams insult after insult. You tsk at her. It seems you need to break your new pet in.

“Let me go! What did you do?!”, Daniela screams. She can’t access her swarm, nor any of the powers she possesses. She feels small and helpless.

Clawed fingers tear at the collar, but it doesn’t come lose in any way.

“You will treat me with respect!”

You chuckle at this, grabbing her by her wrists and pulling her along. She struggles, naturally, attempting to cut and bite.

“You’re going to regret this!”

Her futile threats fall on deaf ears.

Daniela gasps when she is pushed over and has her black panties tugged down as you walk past. Thick, soaked pussy lips peek out between large thighs.

Daniela is quickly back on her feet, raging on. “Let me go! Do you have any idea who you’re dealing with?!”

“Uncuff me, pet!”, she yells. She attempts to sound as serious and dominant as her sisters do with their pets during feeding times.

Yet you merely chuckle.

Her eyes widen when she sees the leash and rope in your hands, along with items she doesn’t recognise.

You sigh when the redhead attempts to attack. A single snap of your fingers has the collar push her down harshly, into a kneeling position. You relish in hearing the woman’s gasps. She’s such an unruly little thing now…

Daniela shrieks when her hands are grabbed, attempting to tug them free as more and more phrases fall from her lips. Eventually the red rope wraps around her, tying nimble wrists behind her back. She’s fuming.

“You will regre-MGHM! EUGHH!”

You laugh at her, the ring gag stretching her mouth open wide. “That’s better, sweet thing”, you coo.

“You’ve got quite a mouth on you, my pet”

She jumps upon hearing herself being referred to as such. The gag doesn’t allow for much talking.

Daniela eyes you angrily, her head turning as she notices you attempt to put the leash on her.

A moan ripples from the back of her throat when you grip her hair and keep her in place. She’s blushing by the time you let go, leash in place at her thick binding collar. This isn’t at all how this was supposed to go!

“OOH! MHMMM!”

You ignore her shushed and slurred complains, instead easily move the woman and bend her back over the desk. Daniela squirms helplessly, her tiptoes barely touching the ground, her arms bound.

“Don’t you worry, I’ll teach you, pet.”, you coo. She’s fuming, speaking slurred little phrases, demanding you submit to her.

All this does is bring a chuckle from you.

“First lesson, we’re going to teach you to stop being such a little brat”

She tenses, legs kicking.

Golden eyes meet yours as you walk to the other side of the small desk, right to her face. She yelps when your tip is rubbed against her lip.

“Ah, my poor little succubus. We’re now going to teach you how to handle cock down your throat properly”

Daniela’s golden eyes press shut when she feels you thrust inside her wide open mouth, squirming and gripping onto the rope tightly. You’re not gentle with her, instead thrust fast and rough, using her inexperienced mouth however you want. You’ll fuck the brattiness right out her like no one has before.

You groaned at the feeling, the woman’s throat warm and tight. She keeps gagging and drooling, the poor thing entirely unused to such treatment. It makes you feel hot to know you’re the first to push your cock deep down her throat.

“Good girl. See how nice that works now, my sweet, pretty darling?”

She blushes helplessly as her mouth is used. Your balls slap against her chin every time you push inside, your tip at the back of her throat making her gag.

“GMNNN! MGNMMM! HMN!”

You tsk at your little brat, thrusting harder with more of a point to make her gag than bring yourself pleasure.

She gags loudly, whimpering and whining as more thick, salty tears run down her cheeks from feeling your cock so deep in her throat. She seems to obey again, allowing you to continue your normal, albeit fast and rough thrusts.

You feel the warmth of her cheeks when you cup one lovingly. “Look at my little toy learning! That’s it, pet, breathe through your nose”, you coo. She squirms softly for you, eyes pressed shut tightly. You can only imagine how odd it must be for her to believe she’s in charge in one second, dicked down in the next.

Daniela can’t help but blush and moan under your watchful eye. Never in her life has she received this much care and attention. Undivided attention.

Her hair is gripped and the leash is used to keep her in place when you begin to thrust harder. You’re considering playing with spells here and there, altering the state between your legs a little here and there, or perhaps your endurance. You settle for the latter. You know there is plenty left to do with your little redhead.

She doesn’t know what words you chant, nor their meaning, though her eyes widen at the sparks lighting the tip of your fingers.

Upon her surprised look, you squeeze her soft cheek. “Don’t think you had the upper hand for a second, my little succubus”, you whisper. She shivers, the slick between her legs nearly unbearable. She feels the urge to have something inside- you, your cock, fingers, anything given to her.

Daniela now too understands, she greatly underestimated you.

She squeezes her eyes shut when you cum down her throat once again, attempting to turn her head slightly as you pull out and paint her chin and jaw. “You look adorable this way, sweetheart”

She whimpers. All this attention of yours is making her so needy. She feels herself falling for you already; poor little Daniela always too quick to fall and catch feelings, too delusional to tell whether she is loved or it is nothing but a fabric of her imagination.

You cup your hard cock as you pull out of her entirely, tapping her nose to have her reopen her eyes.

“Now, are we going to behave, pet?”

She whimpers and nods miserably, hissing when you at last take the uncomfortable gag off.

You don’t give the inexperienced little thing time to talk.

“What’s your name, beauty?”

Her face flushes pink.

“Daniela Dimitrescu”, she answers obediently. She whimpers, legs pushing together. She’s never been this needy, despite being a succubus, and all she wants is to be taken so bad.

“Patience, my little pet. At first we will see whether you’ve learned and improved. Don’t think you can fool me, little virgin”

She gasps audibly at this.

“Open up, my adorable Daniela”

She blushes even brighter as her name is used. Ever eager to learn, as well as to receive pleasure, praise and attention, she opens her mouth wide. You smile at her.

“Good Girl, that’s it. Now, don’t you bite down, or we’re going to have some serious trouble, Daniela. I’m not above punishment”

The thought excites her.

You push yourself in again, moaning at her gags around you. Each has her throat tighten around you.

She breathes through her nose immediately this time. You praise her for this. It seems your eager little succubus is indeed a fast learner.

“Now, just wrap your lips and tongue around me, little succubus”

You hiss when she bites down a little, yet your gaze hardens when you see the little smirk she still sports with you in her mouth. So she is a little brat.

You decide to save that for later.

“Now wrap your tongue a-aAh, Y-Yes!”

She hums, her delusional mindset at last somewhat correct. She is good with her tongue, despite her movements being sloppy and inexperienced.

You grip her hair, thrusting slowly as she licks along your cock inside of her, sucking slowly. Surprisingly, the friction of her sharp nails rubbing against you lightly is arousing.

She sucks you eagerly, the little succubus’s skill at last raising. You groan. She’s hot, and adorable, and all yours. You feel her collar at the other side of her neck when you thrust deep.

You allow your little pet to keep going for a while, watching with a blush and arousal clear as day in your eyes as she grows confident once again- and rightfully so.

She swirls her tongue around you, eager to experiment. You let her, moaning softly and holding her cheek. Daniela eagerly sucks up all the attention and affection she gets, even as she is bound and bent over, bound to you by a ritual and spell by far too advanced for the succubus to even attempt to understand.

“A-AH!”

Daniela giggles slurred at your sounds as she bobs her head back and forth.

You groan, your grip on her hair tightening as you make her throat you a little deeper. “That’s right, what a good little girl you can be”

She hums, hips rolling against the desk. You know she must be soaked, her tight cunt drooling. You’re eager to find out, but calm yourself: there is plenty time.

Still, it might not be wrong to prepare the redhead a little for your cock. After all, you can imagine the poor thing won’t have an easy time accepting even your tip into her.

Daniela whimpers when you slip out her mouth. She was in the middle of pleasuring you!

She shivers when you walk up behind her, sliding your hands across her behind. Thick thighs and a beautifully round ass greet you. She’s sensitive.

“YAH!”

The redhead shrieks in embarrassment upon feeling your index and middle finger pull her pussy lips apart. Her blush is hot on her entire face. You hum, licking your lips at the wetness that coats her and drools out of her. She’s so tight, you barely see her little hole. How could you fit inside? You’re eager to find out!

“Now just relax, little succubus”, you coo.

Daniela gasps when she feels a fingertip press against her, her eyebrow rising as she feels it inside. The more you push it in, the better it feels.

Daniela’s eyes cross when you curl your finger inside, her knees weak as she presses her thighs together. It’s unlike anything she’s ever felt!

“Good, I see you’re handling my finger well, my darling pet”

Daniela pants as another is squeezed inside, whimpering at the small stretch she endures. You hum again. Her wetness makes this easier for you.

She whimpers when you pull back out of her, just when it started to feel so good!

Instead her eyes follow yours as you reach forwards, hand wrapping around the handle of a small dagger at your desk. She tenses, whimpering. Bound to you and yours to own, hands tied and legs weak after the throat fucking and small tease she has received, she is utterly helpless for you.

You coo at her, brushing your hand gently over thick, auburn hair. She relaxes again.

“Don’t you worry, sweet Daniela. You’re mine now”, you whisper, leaning forwards as to whisper in her ear. You groan as if causes your erect cock to press up between her warm ass cheeks. “I’ll make sure nothing and nobody hurts my little pet”, you promise in a hushed voice. She mewls below you.

“Now, let’s make sure you’re a little stretched for me until I decide to make use of your tight pussy”, you decide, drawing back yet again.

The woman gasps below you when the tip of the knife’s handle is rubbed through her slit. “Mhmmm, yes!”, she moans, hips grinding eagerly. She’s so adorable for you, believing she can get off without penetration from you.

Her mouth drops open and a shriek is heard in the laboratory as the knife’s handle is pushed inside, stretching her a little and keeping her that way for you. She attempts to push her legs together, and squeaks at the pain caused by the blade. Quickly, her thighs spread again.

Daniela hisses and moans when you playfully slap her round ass, watching hungrily as it jiggles for you. She’s the perfect fucktoy for you. You realize despite not earning what you had originally hoped for, the summoning ritual left you with such a sweet prize nonetheless.

She gasps when you pull her off the table and push her up against the wall, her legs trembling already. She’s utterly soaked, and you haven’t even begun playing with her properly yet.

You untie the wrists of the succubus with ease, instead grab her hands and pull her close to you. She gasps as she is pulled down a little, golden eyes staring up at you obediently.

“I think it’s at last up to me to teach you how to use your mouth and hands, sweetheart.”, you say.

Daniela shrieks when her hair is grabbed and her head is brought forwards, lips smudged against your right nipple, her chest pushed up against your stomach.

Her virgin pussy grips the knife’s handle tight, despite the wetness that seeps from her.

You tsk at your adorable, inexperienced pet. “Wrap your lips around it, little succubus”

She eagerly does so, ever so happy to learn. You gasp when she sucks immediately, lips smearing black lipstick on you, teeth grazing against your skin messily.

“Good…Girl! Yes!”

She hums at the praise, feeling her ego stroked yet again. She thrives off the feeling.

You gently grab her soft hands, guiding them to your hardened and dripping cock. She gasps at the sensation.

“Wrap them around, and stroke up and down, my beautiful slut”

Her cheeks burn. You’re vulgar, and caring, and sweet to her. You’re shamelessly exploiting all her weaknesses. She clenches around the handle, whimpering, yet obeying.

Your head is thrown back at her touches. Her soft hands explore eagerly, touching your tip and shaft, reaching down to cup and squeeze your heavy balls. She is eager and needy for you, just as she should be.

Daniela hums around your nipple, sucking a little harder. You hold the back of her hand lovingly, yet forcefully, not allowing her to pull away for even a moment.

Her nipples are hard against yours.

“Now raise one hand to my other breast, little lamb”

She blushes, but does as she is told, the brat teased out of her at the moment. She feels humiliated by the blade’s handle deep in her pussy, and yet can’t help but moan around your nipple.

Daniela gasps when she feels one of your hands come up to her breasts. “Copy me, pet”

She nods as she gets back to sucking you, her left hand stroking up and down your cock, squeezing and holding you tight, the right resting on your breast.

You feel closer again, her hand heavenly around you, her mouth and fingers equally so.

Beautiful whimpers fill the room when you tug her tiny nipple. She copies the action, and you moan loudly.

You rub hers between your fingers, she does the same.

You’re so proud of how this little vixen is turning out.

“Stroke over my tip, pet”

She moans and hums, hips rolling as she obeys. You laugh at the poor, needy thing, oh so desperately trying to get more pleasure for herself.

You squeeze her nipple and she jumps. You groan when she copies the action. “I see you’re learning now, my dear”, you whisper. Golden eyes stare up at you, and you smile breathlessly as she is whimpering around your breast.

“Come here, kiss me”, you demand when you feel painfully close.

“Let your new master show you how to control a mouth properly”

Daniela’s lips once again push against yours. Immediately she moans when your tongue dominated hers effortlessly, sucking and pulling her closer by her leash. She gasps when you bite her lip, her tongue connected to yours with shared spit when you pull away from her.

You tug her close again, dominating her mouth with ease.

You’re so close.

The succubus moans into your mouth as she tightens around the handle, her nipple squeezed and toyed, her tongue dominated easily.

She groans as her tongue is bit and sucked lightly, and her breast squeezed.

You moan loudly, thick ropes of cum shooting against her stomach. The red haired woman gasps at this, smirking a little as she raises her hand to taste you. The sight is erotic as anything.

“Get back on the table”, you command breathlessly. You can’t wait any longer. You won’t, either.

The moment she’s on the table you pull out the handle, examining its soaked state. “Relax, my little succubus. It will only hurt a moment”

She whimpers, eyes pressed shut when you push forwards. She gasps, sharp nails digging into the wooden table. You’re by far larger than the small handle, and when you merely bump against her tight hole, you wonder whether you will fit at all.

Thankfully, after pushing harshly, your thick tip slips inside. You’re sensitive, and feel as if you could cum from feeling her wrapped around you alone. She’s warm, soft and wet.

“P-Please! It won’t fit!”, she shrieks when you keep pushing. You stroke her cheek gently, your other hand set on her fleshy hip. “Ssshh, let me handle this, pet”, you answer simply. You’re careful with her, unwilling to completely break your newest toy just yet.

At last, you’re about a third inside. She’s writhing beneath you, moaning and blushing hotly, arching her back and gasping at every little inch you put inside of her.

You pull out a little, and feel her tighten around you.

When you push back in, a little more of her tight pussy is stretched.

This keeps on going for several minutes, filled with moans and gasps, until at last you’re fully nestled inside the woman’s sweet cunt.

“M-More please”, she begs. She’s on the verge of an orgasm, her cunt full and her breasts cupped in her own hands.

“There we go, it seems you’ve remembered your manners, darling”, you praise. She gasps when you thrust again, and you moan and groan loudly. She’s heavenly wrapped you. Nothing you’ve had could compare to this.

“Y-Yes! Please! I-A-AA!”

Daniela screams as she cums, her cunt tight and warm, her hands covering her sweet face as she creams around you. You’re unbothered- this is your treat now.

The sweet succubus sings moan after moan, scream after scream for you as you begin hard, fast thrusts into her. She’s your toy, your claimed pet, bound to you until eternity- you know you won’t set your precious prize free.

It’s about time the needy ginger is treated as the slut she is for you. Your hips thrust harshly, an unforgiving and rough pace demonstrating your lust for her.

Daniela is pushed up and down the table by the force you use on her, breasts bouncing and lips spreading to let out moans and such.

You know the inexperienced woman won’t be able to handle all that many orgasms of her own, yet are determined to bring her to a second, intense one at the very least.

Daniela feels this too, her cunt aching and feeling so good at the same time. She feels stuffed and torn in two, satisfied and greedy at the same time.

The little succubus must wait no longer, her golden eyes fighting to stay open as she eyes you.

With a thrust deep and forceful you cum, shooting thick, white ropes of cum inside the woman, and in return receive warm and wet cream around your hard cock.

She screams, her head thrown back against the table as she pants and whimpers, filled pussy on fire, air utterly knocked out of her.

You pull her close to you, her near limp body easily falling against yours. You feel her ragged, warm breath against your neck as you place a small mark on her neck.

Smirking at the bite and hickey adorning her pale neck, an idea for your next lesson comes to your mind.

#cassandra dimitrescu #daniela dimitrescu #bela dimitrescu #daniela dimitrescu x reader #lycan 🐺 anon #resident evil village

[swee7dream]

i love ur works sm 😭😭 they always make me feel so safe 🥲🥲 esp the chenle ones like hellooooo 🫨🫨💓 (my way of discretely requesting more cg!chenle 😥)

letting go cg!zhong chenle x f!regressor!reader

genre agere content, established relationship, comfort, slice of life warnings petnames ( doll, baby ), nonsexual usage of ‘daddy’, indirect mentions of half-regression dni if you sexualize age regression . i WILL shoot you in between the eyes ૮₍ ˃ ⤙ ˂ ₎ა wc 1574

summary you find yourself traveling down memory lane at the airport . ( can be read as a loose prequel to whatever you want ! )

le 🏀: i’m gonna be hanging out with the guys for a bit. text me when you’re flight lands princess 👑: *your le 🏀: will i ever be good enough for you

You chuckle as you lock your phone, placing it back in your bag.

The harsh lights overhead make the TSA line look like a hospital, like it’s the final safety check-in before you can move on to the afterlife. You look down at the charm hanging from your bag, trying to distract yourself from the sudden and unexpectedly dark thought that popped into your head.

The green material of your Hangyodon plush feels soft under your fingers, and focusing on it lets you ground yourself. You remember how much you cried when you lost your original keychain, a My Melody plush with a little pink dress on. You were inconsolable for days, Chenle thought that you had experienced the loss of a loved one before he finally asked.

“Lost Melo…”

“Melo?”

“My dolly, Daddy. The one on my bag…”

Honestly, Chenle never even landed eyes on that keychain plush. He had no reason to look at your bag for longer than 5 seconds. He knew it existed but had it in a far corner of his mind most of the time. He feels like it would be better to tell you when you’re Big rather than Little that all he’s ever focused on is you, not your bag. Big you would curl up into a ball and shy away, pushing his shoulder bashedly but Little you would begin to frown and poke and prod wondering how he could ever say he loves you if he doesn’t love ‘Melo’ like you do.

“Do you remember where you left it?” he asked, crouched on the floor as you lay across the couch with your bag to your chest.

“Think… the mall?”

Chenle pulled a face at the mental image of the tiny plush within the huge building but tried calling the lost and found anyway. With his bottom to the floor, back on the couch, Chenle held his phone up to his ear in one hand while the other caressed the back of yours as you continued to hold your bag like a lifeline. The dreaded, expected news came out of the speaker of his phone, loud enough for you to have heard thanks to the lack of distance between you two. Chenle felt as you began to shiver and shake like a Coke bottle full of Mentos.

“Stole it…!” you sniffled. “Someone stole her.”

“Hey, no.” Chenle tugged at your bag for you to show your face, eyes growing red already. “No one stole her. She probably slipped off. Maybe Melo just wanted to see more of the world.”

“So, Melo abandoned me?!”

Nice move, Zhong.

“No, Babygirl. No! That’s not what I’m saying at all, I don’t think.” He backtracked. “What I’m trying to say is: how long have you had Melo?”

“I dunno.,.” You mumbled.

“Was it before you had Daddy?”

“…yeah.”

“Then maybe-” he twisted himself in a way that let you meet eye to eye. “she felt that could go on a little trip. ‘cause she knew that you would be taken care of now that I’m here.”

“…”

“Melo didn’t abandon you, doll. She still loves you so much. Like this much.” He holds up his arms, opening his chest as wide as he can to get as much distance between his hands as possible. “But just between you and me, Melo and I had a little chat. She said she wants to explore the world! Her plan is to explore the world from the bags of cute little girls like you, and then hitch another ride once she’s maxed out their Melo-meter!”

“Millimeter?”

“Melo-meter.” Chenle repeated, finally deciding to turn fully to you with his lower back poking at him for help. “You know how Daddy has to go to work every day?”

“Every. Day.” You grumble.

“I know. It’s not fun for me either, doll. But Melo has a job to do too. She’s in charge of helping lonely little girls be brave in the big wild world out there. She made you feel safe, yeah? Like you’re not alone?”

“Mhm…” You nod.

“Every time you get a little bit of more confidence, Melo’s Melo-meter gets fuller. That shows that her mission of making you feel braver is succeeding! You’re so brave now, Melo’s gotta go help out another shy baby like you once were.”

“Am braver?”

Chenle’s eyes grow wide, his head vibrating in shock that you can’t tell is playful, genuine, or both.

“You don’t see it, baby? You’re super brave. Look, today you lost an important friend you had for a long time and sure, you felt sad, that’s normal, but you didn’t cry. You didn’t cry at the mall or even when you came home. Do you think you could’ve done that before?”

You tried to think back, but your memory when Little is so short that even yesterday’s breakfast is a hazy memory. You felt your Big self tickle your ear, whispering a forgotten memory back to life. The feelings of empathy you have for your past self ghost along your skin.

“Mmm, don’t think so.”

“That’s okay, though. Because now you can and I’m so so proud of you for it, doll.” Chenle gave you a goofy grin. “Kiss?”

“Kiss.” You allow, pulling your keychain-less bag away from your face and turning your cheek for your caregiver to peck warmly.

“It’s time to let go now, baby.” He grabs your hand and squeezes it for only a second. “Wanna say bye bye to Melo?”

“Mmm, yeah.” You lay your back flat back on the couch and sigh contentedly. “Thank you, Melo.”

“Thank you, Melo. Thank you for helping my babygirl be so brave on her own. I’ll try and keep her as safe as you did.” Chenle speaks up, beyond the ceilings and clouds and into the nebula, wherever Melo’s next mission was destined to be.

“But Daddy, I don’t like being alone.” You roll to your side, cheek squished against the cushion. 

“I don’t like you being alone either.” He dropped his eyes down to you. “But we can’t avoid it, doll. On the bright side, it’s not like it was before. You’re not going to be alone in one place to be still alone in another. You could come to me, or I could come to you. Doesn’t that make those little transtitionary periods where we’re alone feel a lot better? To know I’m waiting for you. Always.”

“I’m always waiting for you too.” You replied. “…I guess you’re right.”

“I’m always right.” He hummed jokingly.

“Daddy, don’t.” You frowned, annoyed that your monologue was interrupted.

“Sorry, sorry. I’m sorry. Go ahead, baby.”

“I’m not 'fraid of being alone. ‘cause I know that they’re just teeny tiny moments to reach the finish line to where I know the people I love are.”

“Like me.”

“…Yeah, I guess, you.” Your eyes drifted away, intrigued by the corner of your ceiling all of a sudden.

“Hey- You know wh-” Chenle’s fingers attacked your sides, making squeals and laughter erupt out of you as you failed to squirm like a worm out of his tickling torture.

“This isn’t a replacement for Melo,” Chenle warned, holding up the blue-green keychain plush in his hand. “it’s just a little fidget doll. And maybe a reminder that I’ll always be waiting for you.”

“Chenle, this is the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen.” You take it from his hand, dangling it on your finger as you hold it up. “What is it even supposed to be?”

“Hello? I just said the most sweetest, kindest, thing in the world and you have the audacity to say it’s ugly?”

“What is it?”

“It’s-!” He gestures at it vaguely, then licks his lips. “I don’t know. I don’t know what it is. Listen, if you hate it, then give it back.”

“No!” You pull it away from his outstretched hand. “It’s mine. You gave it to me. No take-backs.”

“Kiss?”

“Ew, no. I’m all gross from work.” You scrunch your face, turning away from Chenle. “Later, though. Yes. All the kisses you want.” Your hands got busy trying to hang your new gift on the bag you packed for your flight the next day.

“What about a thank you kiss? Now?” He raises his eyebrows expectantly, trying to get within your eyesight once more.

“Thank you, Chenle.” You pushed his chest away with your pointer finger once the Hangyodon doll officially clung to your bag. “Move. I need to shower.”

“Just one!”

“Quit following me!”

Your phone buzzed on the way to your gate. You figured you looked ridiculous unzipping your bag resting while trying to keep walking, but you couldn’t find it within you to care about the possible looks of onlookers. You would have in the past, but that was before Chenle, before Melo.

Your screen displayed a message notification from your boyfriend. Your eyes rolled on their own at his clinginess, but your fingers already were moving to read it.

le 🏀: can you hurry up princess 👑: i don’t control the plane chenle le 🏀: WHY NOT le 🏀: COME HOME FASTER I MISS YOU le 🏀: i'm holding my breath until your back le 🏀: if you even care princess 👑: *you're

a/n hello ! it's vix ପ(๑•ᴗ•๑)ଓ ♡ thank you so much for the requests lately ! they really make me feel that the work i pour so much effort is being received well and loved, motivating me to work harder ! i hope this is an enjoyable read as well ᡣ • . • 𐭩 ♡ hopefully the next release is the non-agere spidermark fic i've been working for the past couple months.

#cg!nct dream #agere sfw #kpop agere #nct dream agere #cg!zhong chenle #kpop little space #little!reader #zhong chenle x reader

[siphoklansan]

700 Followers Milestone Celebration🎉

Introducing…

꧁𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧 𝐊𝐚𝗺𝗼𝐥𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐡꧂

༄ชรินทร์ กมลนัฐ༄

“Could that be a fish-tail swishing behind his legs?”

Height : 178 cm.

Birthday : 17th of July

Homeland : East of Scalding Sands

Best Subject : Defense Magic

Club : Pop music club

Talents : Khon Dancing

Hobby : party, watching plays

Likes : going out, playing wood wind instruments

Dislikes : carelessness and cockiness

Favorite food : any type of noodle dishes (bonus points if they have lotus roots in them)

Least favorite food : artificial butter or ingredients in desserts

꧁𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜꧂

"𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞" The ability to put someone in a trance. The trance will show their darkest fear or deepest desires, depending on Charin’s intentions. The victim will be put in a trance when Charin summons a large lotus on the ground (kinda like a booby trap). If the victim steps in the lotus then off they go into dream land, they’ll just stand there with pale and dull eyes, completely still. The longer they take to break out of the trance, the more energy it consumes from both Charin and the victim.

The victim can fall unconscious if they’re in a vulnerable mental state or they take too long to snap out.

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐧 : Warriors are adorned with talisman (tattoos) , giving wearers resistance to black magic and blot. And also some resistance to normal physical damage (ex. a normal blade, a bullet)

𝐌𝐞𝐫𝗺𝐚𝐧 : Charin is half merman. Though he can’t transform into a one, he possesses a skill that can swim just as fast as any merman.

꧁𝐅𝐮𝐧 𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝗼𝐮𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧꧂

I originally planned a second ability for him. He can summon tiny lotuses that can heal minor injuries if you eat them. It’s like a family thing, since he comes from a family of healers and such, but I decide to cross out the idea.

Charin is also based on the literature piece Ramakien like Anan! He’s inspired by the character…..*drumroll please*….Muchanu! (มัจฉานุ). Muchanu is the son of Hanuman, they’re both Yakshas. But Hanumna uh did the devil’s tango with a mermaid so yeah..there’s Muchanu🧍‍♀️

I originally planned for Charin to be based off Hanuman (หนุมาน), but I decided to go for Muchanu for shits and giggles. I just think the fish tail is so cute I couldn’t pass it up.

If I remember correctly, Muchanu is a goody-two-shoes and is kinda like a side character. I don’t think he had that much screen time.

I created Charin because I had a feeling that if I was in Twisted Wonderland, alone with no magic and no one that’d speak my native language, I’d be lonely as hell. So Charin is like a comfort character to me<33

His hair resembles a lotus (doesn’t really look like it but yeah) it’s not a blooming lotus though. And his hair is not a bun.

His big ears represents Yakshas that are related to monkeys(?) (or just monkeys. They draw monkeys pretty similar to yakshas (in the literature piece)

The swirl-pattern on his cheeks is something I notice in a lot of monkey character designs. Or maybe I’m tripping and I’m remembering it as something else but I swear I see it from time to time😭

꧁𝐀𝐛𝗼𝐮𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧꧂

Since Charin is (half) merman, he loves water sports! He loves going to the beach, go diving in the deep sea, he surfs too! He goes to the local beach so often that the people (and workers) there know who he is.

Charin’s a very fun guy. He loves to party too (he gets along with Kalim well too, and they’re both in the pop music club!) But he’s not that energetic to the point that it’s suffocating, he knows when to have fun and when to stop.

As the body guard of Anan, he doesn’t seem to be strict at all. It’s not because he doesn’t care about his job (maybe), it’s because…well….could any one actually beat Anan? Jokes aside, he may have a baby face and is fun to be around, but he’s actually way stronger than he looks. His father’s lineage are warriors that served the King of Yakshas, so I guess that’s where he got his skills from.

But hey, don’t get scared now! He’s a pleasant guy, he wouldn’t start a fight unless you give him a reason to. Though…he wouldn’t say no to a spar or two. Show him what you got, he won’t judge! Charin’s not the type to play dirty too, unless the situations are dire, of course.

Charin, ever the mysterious guy. You wouldn’t even know he had a fish-tail until later. He likes to hide his tail for unknown reasons.

Charin has a habit of being flirty, but that’s just a part of his personality. He doesn’t even know he’s flirty! And he’d get so confused that someone caught feelings. Hm? What do you mean you like him? He thought he was just being friendly…

YOU GUYS….THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR 700+ FOLLOWERS🎉💓💓 I can’t believe I got this far omg😭 I’m so glad you guys stuck around even though I don’t post that often hjkggjgkgh I have so many things in my draft that I wanna post! You can check my agenda post (in my pinned post) to take a look!! I had so much fun on this app. The community is great and I’m already looking forward to posting more content (ง'̀-'́)ง I had A LOT of fun drawing my OCs (Anan and Charin) and I get to share it with you guys!!!<333

Lmk if you have any questions about Charin, you can barge into my ask box and ask away!♡´･ᴗ･`♡

I would also like to end this by saying that if you are knowledgeable about Ramakien and you would like to correct some information in this post (or my other oc’s post) PLEASE DO!! I haven’t read about Ramakien in a longgg time, so feel free to correct me on anything! I’d appreciate it SO MUCH!<3

#twisted wonderland #twst #disney twisted wonderland #twst wonderland #twst oc #twisted wonderland oc #original character #twisted wonderland original character #☂︎︎siphok-museum☂︎︎ #my little bby is here!! #THANK YOU FOR 700 FOLLOWERS AGAINNN<333333 #I LOVE YOU ALL MWAH MWAH

[dotster001]

Changing Tides

Summary: Self aware au by @yandere-daze . Eichi thinks you're finally ready to accept the life he's given you. But war is coming...

CW: Yandere, implied Stockholm syndrome(at least the beginning of it)

A/N: um....sorry to those of you who were following this series... it's been a long time since I updated it...hope you're all still here 😭

Chapters: One Two Three Five

He had invited Wataru to a dinner to celebrate their anniversary. But it was secretly for another purpose.

"It's time," he said, standing up from his seat, his stomach fluttering in excitement as he observed Wataru's confused but ecstatic grin.

He walked to the nearby door, opening it to reveal you. Dressed in finery, and looking better than you had in months. Still skeptical, but less so than before. No longer terrified. Healthy. Radiant.

"Amazing," Wataru whispered, seemingly scared to speak too loud. He slowly approached, reaching out to you, but hesitating until you gave a nod.

He fell to his knees, grabbing the hem of your shirt and sobbing into your stomach.

"I'm so honored to be able to bask in your presence," he said through shuddered sobs. You looked over to Eichi, a pleading expression on your face, but he couldn't do anything, not when the sight before him was filling his heart with so much joy. His God and his lover.  Together. Embracing. Life was so wonderful. If he hadn't been religious before now, this would have awoken something in him.

He finally gave in to the urge to hold the two of you close, wrapping his arms around you, and bringing you both down to Wataru's level. Tears began to fall from his own eyes, and soon, all three of you were crying together. He was certain after the months of trying to "fix" you, you were crying for different reasons than them, but you weren't fighting.

So he could ask for nothing more.

For now.

With a bang, the moment was ruined.

"Beloved Emperor!" A voice called out.

Eichi immediately stood, moving into a defensive position in front of you and Wataru. The worst had come to pass. The entirety of Eden had broken into his home, just when he had finally brought you out from isolation.

He could fight someone.

He could kill someone.

"Saegusa," he hissed through a painfully gritted smile.

"You have stolen something that's not yours. Our beloved Y/N belongs to all of us…or, at least," he grinned, "Y/N belongs to those of us who can properly take care of them."

"Ah! I just want to hold them!" Hiyori whispered to Jun, who was the only thing holding him back. 

"Soon," Jun whispered back. He had originally planned to follow Ibara's plan and negotiate. But now that he'd seen you, in person, he realized he'd fight anyone just to keep you to himself and Hiyori.

Nagisa, meanwhile, couldn't even speak. All he could do was stare. You were everything he'd imagined, and more. He had not been this at peace since you'd vanished.

So Ibara was left to negotiate alone. And part of him was pleased with this. He would always be the best at it. And besides…if he could show you his worth….

"We have discussed it with various other units, and we are in agreement. You cannot hoard the producer. They belong to the people."

You stiffened, but he couldn't let that stop him. He'd come too far.

Once you were in his arms, you'd learn how to love him. That's just how his beloved producer was.

"To put it plainly, there's two of you, and we have an army. Even if you manage to defeat us, another army who will be far less kind to you, is being formed as we speak. Take us to war, but know it will only end in heartbreak for you. And for our radiant producer."

You released a whimper, the tension of the room was getting to you. And despite how Eichi had been slowly trying to prove to you that no one meant you any harm, the threat of "war" was bringing back Anzu's initial brainwashing. You had to leave this room. You weren't safe here.

"Please! It would be such a good Hiyori if I could hold them," Hiyori whispered seductively into Jun's ear, hoping to appeal to his softer side, particularly as you began to shake. No one seemed to notice but him, all of them focused on the confrontation.

"Soon, I promise," Jun hissed, not sure if he could hold himself back any longer.

Eichi could only hope Wataru was calming you down. He wasn't watching you, his attention solely on Eden as he stared them down, but he knew what this had to be doing to you. And he'd worked so hard…

Suddenly, you released a singular choked sob, and he spit out, "I'm sure we can negotiate."

"You're so wise!" Ibara said with a grin, seating himself at the table that Eichi had been happily having his dinner at moments ago.

"Valkyrie, 2wink, and Crazy B would all like to share a slice of the producer's time. Akatsuki and Mam have chosen to remain neutral until we have settled into a deal, and the rest are preparing to take down your home, your life, everything, in favor of "rescuing" the producer. Though, I'm certain once they got a hold of them, they wouldn't be able to let go, no matter how good their intentions."

He said the last part to frighten you into submission, but it wasn't a lie. He'd spent little time in your presence and was already ready to throw out the deal, his career, and his own unit mates.

"Eve, you may do as you wish," the wild cards of his unit rushed to you, cooing in your ear, and petting your hair, Jun gently holding your hand, Hiyori sliding into your lap, and nuzzling into you in search of affection. 

And Wataru? Well, he never minded sharing his god. Your beauty deserved to be shared! It's why he loves his life the way he did!

"Sit, emperor. We have much to discuss, and we are running out of time to do so."

Eichi bit his lip, sitting at the table and preparing for what would be a painful discussion.

Tag list- @byakuren100

#yandere ensemble stars x reader #yandere ensemble stars #ensemble stars eichi #ensemble stars x reader #ensemble stars #ensemble stars ibara #enstars eichi #enstars ibara #enstars wataru #enstars hiyori #enstars jun

[minjiarchive]

our lustful vacation | yoohyeon x fem!reader

thank u everyone for their suggestions! this is the fic inspired by that one yoohyeon photo i posted. i also decided to use capitals in this writing since its a longer piece lol 😭

warning / smut

“How does that feel?”

"It feels nice actually... thank you.” You straddled her waist while she laid on her stomach, massaging her tense muscles in hope to release some of that tension she has. Yoohyeon couldn't be happier. She's finally had time to spend more time with you – in fact, she was the one who planned this whole vacation out.

Jeju Island.

But she planned it with just you of course. Her members simply understood why she only booked two tickets and actually teased you both a lot about it since you two were going alone. But, with a break from cameras in her face 24/7 and a packed schedule. She was ready to spend this week with the love of her life without any of that.

Yoohyeon was so excited that she couldn't help but buy a couple of new dresses and clothes to wear for you. The outfit she wore tonight was plain white, with a lace tank top (almost suitable for lingerie), and stunning shorts that looked like a skirt in a way.

When you saw her in that for the first time, she could already tell you were trying your best not to touch her right then and there. With the revealing slit of one of her legs, you definitely couldn't deny that your actions were close to speaking for you. You held back though and instead, suggested giving her a massage instead to clear your mind about your loud thoughts of her, but it only made it worse.

One of the straps of her top fell past her shoulders, leaving the other strap so tempting to just slip the whole top off at this point. Each satisfied moan she let out every time you rubbed down on the right spot drove you crazy.

Not only does she tease you in such a gorgeous outfit that she'd know you would go feral over but she moans your name in such a way that it was more than satisfied. “Oh fuck, Y/N, right there...”

You couldn't take it anymore. You kneaded her back one more time before stopping to rest your hands at your sides, you were being cautious now. Swearing to yourself that if you did anything more with your hands, you'd lose all your control by then.

“Was that it baby? God, do your hands feel good on me.”

“Lay on your back, Yoohyeon.” You instructed, getting up from your original position to stand while she listens and flips herself over to lay down on the bed again. You came back up to straddle her once more but this time, you purposely grind yourself down on her, feigning any innocence you had left in you.

Her top was more revealing than before. Both of her straps were down now, it was like she was calling to you to undress her. She was really starting to mess with you now.

Even her eyes undressed you with her sharp gaze. Don't think too much about it, just ignore it.

Right... you determined to just go with whatever your head was telling you. With shaky hands, you caressed her sides just to have her relax underneath you.

“Where on your body do you feel tense or tight the most?”

She smirked a little at your question, you knew what she was thinking of but you didn't entertain it. You were already going through an intense "Yoohyeon curse" after all. Without speaking, she took your hand and guided it down to her center.

“...Here,” You could feel how hot she was through the thin material of her shorts. Needing to feel just how wet she was, you ran a single finger lightly along her slit causing her to whine and squirm. Her panties were practically ruined by how turned on she got by you.

Yoohyeon tugged at your shirt now, noticing your bruised lips from probably biting them so hard earlier. You wasted no time smashing your lips together. When such a breathtaking girl was showing how much she wanted you, your core throbbed in desperation to be touched.

“You're so bad,” Barely managing to let out in between the kiss. It was like the walls were closing in on you both, her breathing was far from being stable and so was yours.

She'd occasionally break the kiss to remove a piece of clothing off you while you already were working on stripping her. You finally removed everything but her panties which was on purpose. You pressed your palm to her center, applying little pressure to tease her.

When you finally decided it was enough, you hooked your fingers under the waistband and pulled it down to reveal her dripping cunt.

“You're beautiful, Yoohyeon.” She loved it when you worshiped her. Your hands would roam around her body, giving every part all your attention.

You placed a few soft kisses around her pussy, nearing her clit at times but never committing to going there just yet. She felt like this punishment would last for hours of constant edging until you easily dipped two fingers in her.

A loud moan ripped through her throat at your entrance. Your fingers rubbed her G-spot in circular motions, some occasional strokes here and there. Her pleasure didn't stop there though, you used the pad of your thumb to rub her clit as well, sending Yoohyeon on a ride of emotions.

“More, please... Y/N.” She begged, her eyes struggling to keep open as they fluttered shut from all the overwhelming stimulation. Yoohyeon was so tight and wet, even you yourself had to find some type of relief. You started grinding your bare pussy down on her thigh, it was pure bliss and lust.

“Shhh, I will darling. I'll make sure you feel good.” You whispered to her before brushing your lips across her jaw, followed by her neck. You sucked on her soft skin that was waiting to be marked up by you. She whimpered in response, maybe as a way of saying thank you since she couldn't put it in words without a moan interrupting her.

Her hands knotted in your hair, leading your head towards her breasts. Yoohyeon urged you to play with them and so you did. You obeyed everything she wanted you to do. Although you could be a tease when you felt like it, that didn't mean you wouldn't submit to anything she asked.

Your tongue came into contact with her nipple at first. You started toying with it, using the patterns that never failed to double her pleasure. Your free hand though played with her other nipple, gliding your thumb over it.

“Fuck Y/N, I'm-” Yoohyeon cried out loudly as you angled your fingers differently. Her breathing was far from being stable and you were both slowly letting yourselves go as time went on.

“I'm getting so close.”

“Keep going for me love. You're doing great.” Her eyebrows furrowed and her walls clenched around you. Yoohyeon's expression prompted you to quicken your pace. Her hips rolled and raised off the bed, causing your fingers to be buried even deeper in her.

The waves crashed onto the shore the same way your bodies collided together in unison.

“Baby I'm gonna...” She warned as she tried to keep herself together to last a few more seconds. As your fingers hit her sweet spot once more, her hips bucked into air, pushing you into her with force.

“Cum for me, my sweet girl.” Within a few moments, her body jerked and shuddered against you.

You took her to Heaven and back all in one night.

Her moans slowly started to quiet down along with her heaving chest that became steady again. You also slowed down your movements as she rode out her high on your, now, coated fingers still.

“By the way honey, I loved that outfit on you. Wear it again and maybe you'll get what you want.”

#dreamcatcher scenarios #dreamcatcher imagines #dreamcatcher x reader #dreamcatcher #dreamcatcher smut #yoohyeon imagines #yoohyeon scenarios #yoohyeon x reader #yoohyeon smut #kim yoohyeon #wlw #wlw smut

[tommarvoloriddlesdiary]

Numbers 1, 13, 17, and 18 sound very interesting! Are there any snippets that you can share?

oh my 🥹 a lot to get through! hold on tight 💀

unnamed fic number one also known as spy, has a lot going on 😭

it’s very much inspired by the Alex Rider series (specifically the book: Point Blanc) - for those who don’t know what that is, it’s about a young boy whose uncle dies, and he becomes deeply entangled in a world of espionage while trying to find out who killed him. it’s really good, and they have a tv series out for which season 3 is airing in April - give it a watch! i take this concept and sort of run with it - so Harry is an in-coming seventh-year Hogwarts student who finds out his Godfather, Sirius, has died during an auror mission gone wrong. he knows someone isn’t being honest with him - and he doesn't plan on resting until he has answers. here’s a cut:

Harry takes a look around. What was it that Sirius’s mind healer used to say? Five things you can see?

He sees rows and rows of conjured chairs, a raised platform, delicately floating candles - unlit, and the billowing peak of the tent. More than ever Harry can hear Sirius’s dismay at the lack of clowns in attendance.

It’s safer here, so Harry cracks a smile and finally settles his eyes on the dark, gleaming black coffin in the very centre.

He walks carefully through the rows of chairs all circled around it and stops just before the platform raises. Harry feels the telltale sign of overwhelm brew like a potion just behind his eyes, but he shakes it off, tries to delay it. Harry is aware now that he stands there for a long, long while.

Taking a deep breath, Harry places both hands on the edge of the coffin lid and pushes up.

It doesn’t open.

————

mockumentary, also known as fic number thirteen: triwizard tournament, was discussed a bit here! but it never fails to make me laugh, so i’ll share another little cut 🤣

-

Olympe rises from her chair and towers over them. The camera tilts up until it can’t anymore and still cuts off the top of her head. She walks over to the balcony, ducking to pass through the doorway, and crosses her arms behind her back.

She gazes down at the fury of elegant chaos, a smirk creeping up her mouth. The seventh-year students are gliding to and fro, preparing to leave in abraxan-drawn carriages while the younger years watch on with wide, awe-filled eyes.

She continues, “Zhis year will not be une répétition of seventeen-ninety-two.”

————

unnamed fic number seventeen, also known as assassins, is vague one 💀

when I originally wrote down this idea, it was this: spy fic concept - Tom is an assassin, and Harry is a spy; they keep running into each other on various missions and have developed an unlikely friendship. NON-LINEAR - back and forth between past and present narrative — here’s a cut!

When Tom arrived on location, it was to a mess.

Harry Potter never held any qualms or hesitations. If there was a job that needed doing, and the justifications were moral enough, he would do whatever it took to complete it successfully. Unfortunately for Tom (and the meaningless lives that tended to be involved), Harry Potter’s modus operandi typically included wide-scale destructive explosions or the occasional all-out brawl.

This particular scenario happened to showcase the latter.

Potter was panting over an unconscious body. Possibly unknowing to the splatter of blood dotting across his chin, cheeks and nose like crimson freckles. It seemed that he’d been here much longer than Tom - deep cover, likely for months now judging by his scruffier than usual appearance. That hair in particular.

Tom exhaled softly, and thought, He looks good in red.

————

interview with a dark lord, also known as fic number eighteen, is pure nonsense 🤪 here's a cut:

-

Harry glanced over his notes, shuffling them around once, then twice. His eyes fell on one of the many, many questions he and the other Gryffindors had compiled over the night.

“Would you say your field is expanding or decreasing?” Harry asked.

“Decreasing,” Voldemort replied without hesitation. Harry’s scar prickled with something vast and telling - something that felt a lot like immense satisfaction.

A morbid curiosity reared its ugly head. “Really?” he asked and squinted his eyes a bit at Voldemort, looking him up and down. “You don’t seem to be taking that very hard?”

“Yes, and why would I, Potter?” Voldemort leaned back and crossed his legs, definitely looking smug. “It is not Dark Lords; it is Dark Lord. If my field is narrowing, and I remain the only one, all’s the better.”

————

if you'd like to send me a wip, please do! my ask box is open 🥹

#tomarry #harrymort #tomarrymort #my fic #tag game #ask game #knights meeting #fic: interview with a dark lord #this is so late #i'm sorry 😂

[scoonsalicious]

hi pookie its meee🩷🩷

I just wanna tell im sorry that i havent been spamming lately😂. Part of it is because im busy preparing for my sis engagement day which is tomorrow (WHO KNEW ENGAGEMENT WOULD BE VERY CHAOTIC?!)

Unwanted updates has been my alarm clock early in the morning (around 6-8)😂. Usually I would wake up at 12 in the afternoon but since then, early it is.

Somehow my brain knows when you’ll update.

OKKAY Let’s rewind to chpter 23. Of all things… SHEAR A SHEEP?!😂😂😂😂 Thinking about it, I might actually do it too😂 Tony and Pocket clicked right away. I love their dynamic. He cares for her since the beginning and for someone like Pocket, she needs him. That chapter is wholesome.

Next, even if it’s only 1 part, we got to see Sam and Pocket in action and I can’t wait for more. Sam calling himself dark chocolate is just😂😂😂😂. Also a glimpse of Pocket’s childhood/backstory😔 She’s a tough one which makes me even more worried. The ‘plan’. Buying drugs from Kozlov sounds BAD. This makes me think that they will force her to take some kind of new drugs that made her really vulnerable and kidnapped her. (and i really REALLY think, will be the work of fucker cunthage).

Last but not least, I miss Bucket😂 I miss his stupid head. I cant wait for him to be the knight in shining armor, saving his beloved Pocket and beat the shit out of Jeremiah. I trust Pookie will build him to the manly man he needed to be.

Anyways, as always, loads of love for u Pookie. Ur work r the best.😭🩷 I cant wait for the upcoming new story.🔥

Hi, Bestie!!! I love getting your messages! And no need to apologize, because 1) they are *never* spam, and 2) you're busy! Congratulations to your sister, by the way! I hope she has a very long, happy, and healthy marriage! I'm glad I can be your personal alarm clock, lol; though, if I could sleep until noon, that's all I'd be doing! So, the shearing a sheep thing-- I was having a convo with @mrsbuckybarnes1917 and was talking about how I think RDJ and I could be besties, just hanging out and shooting the shit and going on ridiculous adventures, then I was like "he seems like the kind of guy I could shear a sheep with in the middle of the night." And BOOM! An origin story was born! It ended up working out better than I expected. I love writing them together so very much. He really is the solid foundation of her life, and if not for him, who knows where she'd be right now?

Sam calling himself 'Dark Chocolate' was loosely based on Marshall from How I Met Your Mother calling himself 'Big Fudge.' I dunno, as I was writing, I just saw Sam saying it, and I was like 'Bingpot!'

I miss Bucket, too. He has a teeny, tiny over-the-phone cameo in the next part, but they won't be 'on screen' again together until Chapter 25. I should have kept them apart for longer, honestly, but I couldn't resist.

Three parts coming out today, since they're all relatively short, and I'll be leaving you on a bit of cliff hanger to start your weekend. In the meantime, I'm off to work on With Friends Like These which, part way through chapter four, is already 19.5k words. Brevity is not my strong suit, apparently, lol.

As always, Pookie loves you so much, and the cat-kiss gifs give me life! There's nothing I love more than a kitten smooch!

[shiny-jr]

I've read the sneak peak for the fourth, and genuinely, this one is the one I'm most excited for—especially with that sneak peak!

I wonder how Jamil will realize that the parrot is no longer the same person he knows, and when the reader accidentally threads past a line that they shouldn't have with Jamil. And if the reader will have their relationship with Prince Jaseer progress further, and take a change—then, the thief too, that will be playing Aladdin, how would they interact? And the genie! I'm excited to see who will get to the genie first, will it still be the thief, Jamil, the reader, or someone else entirely? (It would be funny if the story takes a drastic stir away from the original and things become more complicated, that the reader realizes, that they could no longer rely on the story anymore, but their mind to thread now because the story became so obscured). And of course, the dynamic between Jamil and the reader is so fun! It feels more livelier than the last ones.

It felt comfortable in a way—yet that's the thing that makes it disturbing when things finally become downhill. When Jamil has a shift in the way he speaks towards the reader, or when he realizes that it isn't the parrot. And what if another character entirely realizes the change too (similar to how Jade did)? And what happens if the reader does get to the lamp first? What then? And what if they couldn't wish to return, but instead, have to waste a wish for somethin else entirely?

I'm just filled with so many what-ifs right now that I'm getting so excited! I think this may be my favorite one already compared to the others, and straying away from peak-4. I'm also curious if you'll have one of the readers for the chapter take the role of the hero, or the villain instead, and the yandere takes the role of something else—a hero, etc. Someone just unexpected, it would be fun, though, I do love where you're taking this story <3!!

(Savanaclaw)

I think this one's so good—yet at the same time, I wish we got to see more interactions between Leona and the reader, it would be lovely. But at the same time, it was perfect, the scene where Leona spreads the blood on his hand to their face was so lovely and it in a way, it was like a message to say, you (we) did this. And it just stuck to my mind so hard!! Compared to the rest, it felt the most intriguing one.

And just a question, did you consider having the reader's identity be discovered by Ruggie and the people, or having reader possess a different person? And what made Leona say that the Hyena chieftain wouldn't be this "daring to speak like this to him" (quotations because I can't exactly remember the exact bit, I'm so sorry 😭) have he interacted with the chieftain before the reader? And why does Leona want the reader? Is it due to them being "outwordly?"

And did Ruggie sometimes felt something was off with the chieftain or no? (As he did knew the chieftain since they were young). And did you thought of placing Jack in another role, rather than being a guard? And imagined a what if that the plan still fails, and Cheka still manages to escape? Or a different role entirely?

I'm so sorry if I have a lot of questions and just, word-vomitting on you right now. But I hope it's not too much of a bother—if it is, feel free to ignore this, and have a great day!

Long comment about damnation, let's goooo. I love these, y'all have no idea. I love explaining little lore and tidbits and behind the scene stuff, because there's a surprising amount that goes into making such a long project like damnation. I even have a Pinterest board I like to work on and add to the further I get into the project. But anyways, back to responding to this ask.

I'm so so happy people like the Scarabia sneak-peek! It's a huge relief! I read over the first draft and was just :// meh, this is kinda boring. This is not it. Which is why I decided to change it and spice it up, so I'm glad that it paid off and I made the right decision to do so! Here's to hoping that I can make the rest of it as interesting, hopefully even enough to make people wonder if Scarabia was better than Heartslabyul.

About the whole Jamil find out mc's real identity, I can't exactly reveal that because it would be major spoilers, but I have that roughly planned out. Whether it'll actually happen or not, I guess you'll just have to wait and see. Of course the same goes for the whole plot thing. Can't reveal too much. But again, I am happy people are enjoying Jamil and mc's relationship dynamic!

Like I said in a previous post, writing this based off Jafar and Iago is a lot more fun because they had really fun interactions and dialogue between each other. Like, mc is the only one that can call Jamil a snake to his face and he'd actually be cool with it, anyone else and he'd be plotting their demise. I guess I can reveal this, but at some point in the story, something will happen and I plan for mc to talk to Jamil and say something along the lines of, "Okay, master, I'll get you the dark wizard daily so you can enchant yourself some bitches." I really want to add this line, not sure if I actually will though.

Anyways, about the roles, the mc will never take a role other than the henchman. The characters we know will remain villains, and the protagonists will remain heroes. That's kinda like, the whole theme of this project. Henchman mc, nothing else.

As for Savanaclaw, I tried to give Leona more time than the others. Technically he does have more time with mc when compared to Ruggie and Jack. Leona meets mc a total of four times. It was harder to come up with reasons for Leona to appear considering the situation with him as a prince in the kingdom and mc not in the kingdom. Compare that to Ruggie who was with mc since the very beginning, and eventually Jack who would choose to stay beside mc. It was a lot easier for them to appear because they're literally right there. As for the blood thing, you hit the nail on the head. That's exactly what it was! Some people said it was gross and weird, but like... come on, that's kinda the point? The message I'm trying to convey is mc caused this, yes Leona plotted it but mc is just as guilty. The mcs of this project aren't meant to be morally good.

Ruggie? I mentioned in another post and went into detail about how I originally planned more things for him like him finding out about mc's identity but I ultimately ran out of time for that. Talked about it a bit here.

Anyways, ever since I came up with the concept of this project, Chief!mc was one of the first ones I decided as soon as the ideas formed. Them as well as King!mc. They were the first two I knew for sure what role I wanted them to be. If it's not obvious, Chief!mc is loosely based off Shenzi. Fun fact: I looked for as many voice acting clips that I could find for the Lion King, specifically more for the hyenas and Scar. Might've mentioned this before, but I liked to analyze the voice actor's expressions, the way they moved, or little habits they might've showed and think about adding little similarities to what I was writing. One clip I rewatched a lot was this one. This doesn't account for the fact that I rewatch each movie at least once (usually up to three times or more), and usually replay certain scenes a dozen times or more just to note down every little detail. This process was how I noticed Jafar actually rolls his eyes when Iago is talking and I thought that was a good bit to add for Jamil when mc was talking because it fit perfectly, lol.

Okay, I'm getting way off track. Back to your original question. About what Leona said about the chief. If you think about it, the environment and plot before mc arrived, of course Leona would know about the hyena chief because the hyena folk were always causing trouble for the kingdom he was the prince of. In the beginning, Ruggie reports that Leona was on the borderlands again, meaning he's done it before, he's tried to meet with the chief at least once before. If you take into account the assumption that Falena too has also likely encountered the chief probably more than once likely due to conflicts, it's even safer to say that Leona knows who the chief is and has meet them before too. Finally, Leona doesn't really want them because they're otherworldly. At first Leona may see them as an asset once he realizes that they know way more than they let on, but eventually he comes to enjoy their bickering and teasing and such, and has a lot of fun seeing how certain words and actions puts them on edge. That's how his attraction starts, and begins to snowball into something much more once he realizes that mc is similar to him.

Whew, that was a lot. I hope I answered everything, or mostly everything.

#shiny speaks #twisted wonderland #twst #damnation twst au

[awooghan]

24 to 25 ✧.* y.ji (part two)

➳ PAIRING: jeongin x fem!reader

➳ GENRE: fluff, angst, childhood friends to lovers, christmas

➳ WARNINGS: mild language, mentions of food, long as hell, i put the ‘slow’ in slowburn (in my defense this trope does not work without it), i’ve checked like 1922847473 times for inconsistencies but if there are any pls be nice it’s my first long fic ;w; also you can slowly see the quality of my writing decline in the end im sorry 😭

➳ WORD COUNT: 47.7k (part one: 25.9k; part two: 21.8k) i'm so sorry

➳ SUMMARY: “stay for christmas?” was a phrase jeongin first uttered to you when you were both ten years old, but neither of you had any idea the bond those three little words would hold as the years go by. (inspired by “24 to 25” by stray kids)

➳ NOTES: IT’S FINALLY UP!! i’m so sorry for the wait, i really really wanted to get this right and it took me wayyy longer than i thought it would. but i love how it turned out and i'm so proud of it. i hope y’all enjoy :’)

i’ll include more to the note when i'm not in such a rush to get this posted but tysm to everyone who helped me in writing it! @crispy-chan jas thank you for beta reading (i’m so sorry it was so long) your comments were really sweet and really reassured me that i was doing okay &lt;;33 thank u @pearleechai and @gloseoks for helping me out with that one part i got stuck on for like a week lmaooo. to elsa specifically, ty for all ur help and encouragement in the couple chapters i asked for help on :D i’m sorry it meant u had some of the fic spoiled for u tho ;w; lastly, @svtbabies hopie u have been my lifesaver from start to finish w this fic. thank u so so much for planning w me and for the multiple times you’ve saved me from a huge writer’s block. i wouldn’t have been able to complete this without you, so ty for everything <33 also ty for the banner lol

➳ IMPORTANT!!! this fic is so long that i have to split it into two parts. i'd use the legacy editor but i can't toggle btwn the two anymore 😭 i did not intend for it to be this lengthy but anything for childhood friends to lovers i guess. PLEASE READ PART ONE FIRST.

part one | [part two]

network tags: @straykidsland

taglist: @hafsa-hoofsa-heefs @crow953 @urmomma0324 @tasmtrilogy

20.

Regardless of how desperately you wanted to enjoy Christmastime like you'd usually do, you just couldn’t bring yourself to do it this year.

You had long broken up with Heeseung, and while it did hurt immensely to begin with, it still persisted as a dull ache. You’re a little bummed you couldn’t indulge in your Christmas romance fantasies this year, but you figured you’d manage. You know that wasn't everything in a relationship; it was just a bonus, especially for someone like you.

But what does feel unbearable this year had nothing to do with love or romance. All you could think about was last year and the way Jeongin had left. 

It plagued your mind for weeks after that night, on whether or not you should have stayed and spent your time with Jeongin instead of bringing Heeseung to Jisung's Christmas party. Nevertheless, you had to remind yourself that you didn't know Jeongin had planned to leave that night—and no matter how much you wanted to, you couldn't go back and change the past. 

You couldn't tell if you resented Jeongin for what he did, or if you blame yourself for not listening to him. All the times he wanted to speak to you last year—maybe even to tell you, you just cut him off, too caught up in your new romance with Heeseung to even notice what Jeongin wanted to say.

Perhaps this was what you deserved for trying to follow Jisung’s advice when you were sixteen. “Date and move on,” he said. There was nothing to move on from, but you still tried it anyway.

And look where that got you.

Your original plan had been to stay nestled up in the comforts of your bed, watching whatever trash Hallmark had put out this year as you drank an atrocious amount of hot chocolate to comfort yourself. You were tempted to avoid Christmas plans altogether, especially when all the neighborhood party would do was remind you of Jeongin..

However, Jisung, the persistent fool that he was, wouldn't let that happen. Not when you could be watching laughable Christmas movies with him and his, and now your, friends. 

Felix and Hyunjin are squished together on the loveseat in Jisung's apartment, not that Felix seemed to mind as it gave him an excuse to cuddle someone. Seungmin is positioned on the floor, his legs crossed under the coffee table as he picks away at what little snacks remained in the bowls Jisung had laid out earlier. And you were lazily stretched out across the sofa, your head in Jisung's lap. Since Jisung was the one that dragged you out of bed, he was going to have to put up with your grumpy state.

"What do we watch next?" Felix calls out as the end credits of the Elf roll across the screen. He casually scans the room for your responses, his arms wrapped loosely around Hyunjin's waist. 

"The Grinch?" Seungmin suggests before Hyunjin quickly follows up with A Charlie Brown Christmas.

You pout. All of those sound good but you’d be lying if you said you were in a particular mood for any of them. It almost crushed you to say that, as they had brought you so much joy in the past, but none of them seemed to cut it this year. 

A few seconds passes by and you decide to speak up, throwing in a suggestion of your own. 

"Are there any Christmas animes? Why don't we watch those instead of a movie?" 

A deafening silence fills the room at your suggestion. The boys exchange confused glances with each other, and you begin to wonder if you said something wrong. If there were Christmas cartoons, surely there’d be Christmas animes, right? But your thoughts are quickly cut short when you hear Jisung gasp rather loudly. 

"Oh, so NOW you want to get into anime?!" 

Your frown deepens and you hit Jisung's thigh with your fist. "Shut up, it was just a suggestion." 

Another silence hangs in the room and the other three boys watch you silently like hawks, as if they were ready to pounce on you at the next move you’d make. You hate how small you feel under their piercing stares, and you shuffle to the other side of the couch in hopes that they’d stop.

"This isn't because you miss a certain person, is it?” Jisung chirps in a teasing tone. He crawls over to your end of the couch, a grin pulling at his lips as he pokes at your cheek repeatedly. “Is that why you're all Scrooge McDuck?" 

You jerk your head away and shove his hand back, letting out a strangled groan. "Oh my god, Jeongin has nothing to do with this! and it’s Ebenezer Scrooge!" 

Jisung snorts, crossing his arms over his chest. "I never said Jeongin's name." 

"He got you there, just saying." Felix chimes in with a shrug. 

You huffed frustratedly, spluttering, "I– this– this isn't about Jeongin, and this isn't about Heeseung either. can we just move on from this already?" 

"You know it's okay to miss him, right?” Hyunjin says, his voice soft. “You’re not doing anything wrong." 

"I never said that!" you groan again, raising your voice slightly. "I can’t suggest an anime because you guys assume I miss someone? Can I not do anything without you guys thinking it’s about a boy?!”

"Well, you never even mentioned anime once until now,” Seungmin points out, “the only reason you would is because of Jeongin—”

“It’s not about Jeongin!” you snap, burying your face in your hands in defeat. “God, I hate men.”

A chorus of offended ‘hey’s echo throughout the room which causes your eyes to roll. 

"After all this time? after all these years, sugarplum?" Jisung gasps, his hand over his heart in feigned offense. 

"Oh my god, you know what's not what I mean, Jisung," you huff, grabbing your phone from the coffee table as you stand up. "I'm going to get us more snacks, I hate this." 

You carry yourself to the kitchen and from behind you, you hear Jisung call out, "But you haven't taken the bowls with you!”

Without turning back, you make a face to yourself. "I'll just get new ones," you respond blankly.

The kitchen was a break you so desperately needed. While you could still hear the boys chatting in the living room, it was just muffled enough to keep your mind at ease. you thought you could get away with Jisung not mentioning Jeongin, but maybe you had put too much faith in him. 

You didn't mean it, really, but sometimes it got to be a lot. 

You unlock your phone and staring back at you is a photo you knew you should have changed earlier, but something inside of you just couldn't bring yourself to do it. 

It was an old selfie of you and Jeongin, one you had to beg him to take in the first place a few years prior. You both had your large winter coats on and his arm hung loosely around your shoulders as you both grinned into the camera. In the picture, you had a light blush on your cheeks—presumably from the cold—but deep down you knew otherwise. 

You brought up his contact. This photo was one where he isn't looking at you, but he’s still holding up a peace sign. Just the look of it and the memory of that day flashes in your mind, making you chuckle. 

Clicking on the text conversation, you're met with the last text you had sent him months and months ago, the small seen tick making you frown. 

I miss you... you type out the words slowly. Your thumb hovered over the send key, but you can’t bring yourself to press down.

The glassy feeling in your eyes appears and you blink the tears away rapidly as you let your finger fall on the backspace key, completely erasing the message before you lock your phone once more. 

What you didn't know was in his dorm room, bundled up in blankets like a burrito was Jeongin as he hopelessly scrolled through his phone. he had stumbled across a photo of Christmas lights that reminded him of you, and it took every ounce of his being to stop himself from sending it to you, finding himself scrolling through your message history instead. How could he text you so casually after what he did? Afterjust leaving like that without so much as a proper goodbye?

He watches your typing symbol come up at the bottom, only to have it disappear moments later—leaving him just as despair-ridden as you.

21.

You lost track of how long you had been cuddling against Yeonjun’s chest as Die Hard played on the tv. You had wanted a Christmas film, an actual Christmas film, however, Yeonjun was adamant that this did, in fact, count, as it happened around Christmas day. 

You gaze up at Yeonjun, your eyes lingering on his own. You smile at how much focus he has on the movie, to the point where he’s hardly blinking. 

You originally knew Yeonjun from your neighborhood, which kind of makes things go full circle for you in a way. Him being an older kid, though, meant that you never had a reason to know him personally or even have a chance to talk to him. He stuck with his group, and you stuck with yours. 

But in a weird twist of fate, you met again when you got a part-time job at a small family restaurant just off of your university campus. After a few awkward conversations and some catching up, you both seemed to warm up to each other and Yeonjun soon asked you out on a date… you happily said yes.

Yeonjun is amazing. He's patient with you, smiles at you like you light up the whole sky, looks after you when you feel ill, he takes you on adventures at midnight for snacks just because you mentioned you were hungry. 

He’s, on paper, your dream guy. Handsome, understanding, open and caring. You like him, you really do. Yet, it always feels like something's missing—but you can never put your finger on what.

The end credits of Die Hard roll across the screen, causing you to lift your weight from off of Yeonjun and stretch your arms out around you. 

“I should get home,” you yawn, causing Yeonjun to pout slightly. 

He reaches out to grab your hand as he whines. “Do you have to?” 

You match his pout, nodding your head slowly. “Yeah, I should get back before it snows.” 

“You don’t have to,” Yeonjun muses, and you watch the corners of his mouth twitch into a hopeful smile. “You could… stay over for Christmas? What do you think?”

Your breath hitches at his words, stiffening like a board as you stare at him with wide eyes.

“Stay… over for Christmas?”

He seems to notice the hesitation in your voice, and he begins to rub gentle circles with his thumb on the back of your hand.

“Think about it,” Yeonjun continues, “waking up together on Christmas day? It would be so cute!” he grins. You could practically see the tiny hearts floating about his head. 

Stay over for Christmas. He doesn't know about it, but the whole sentence makes you feel uneasy. The implications and everything they bring with them—not to mention all the memories they invoke—are too much for you to handle at that moment. Not that you’d be the first to admit it

“I— I shouldn’t,” you start, your heart hurting as Yeonjun’s lips twist into a frown. “Baby, Soobin’s here and I don’t want to make things awkward for you by intruding.” 

Yeonjun sits up suddenly, his fingers linking with your own. “I’m sure he wouldn’t mind, plus he enjoys your company. Not as much as I do, obviously,” Yeonjun cheekily grins at his words, sending a wink your way.

You huff a laugh. “Regardless,” you say with a roll of your eyes, “I... I don’t think I feel comfortable staying here yet.” Your own frown seems to match his. “So I'd rather get back before it starts snowing.” Your shoulders drop and you focus on his fingers that are busy playing with your own. “I’m sorry.” 

One of Yeonjun’s hands moves from your fingers and delicately slides against your cheek, guiding your head so you’re looking up at him. Whilst you can see hints of sadness behind his eyes, his smile is one of comfort and understanding.

“Don’t be silly.” His smile grows. “I like you and we can go as slow or quick as you want.” His hand moves from your cheek as he lightly brushes your hair out of your face. “Don’t be scared to tell me, we’ll work through it together.” 

Your heart swells at his words and you lean into his touch, placing a small kiss on his palm. “You’re too sweet to me,” you mumble. 

He disagrees. “No, it’s just the decent thing everyone should do, They're your boundaries, I’m not going to be an idiot and push them.” 

“How did I find you?” You wonder aloud. His cheeks tint red and his smile somehow grows even wider than before. 

“No, no, how did I find you?” 

Your foreheads lean against one another, and you can feel his breath ever-so-slightly tickle your skin. 

“Can you guys stop being disgusting now?” a voice huffs from behind you two.

You and Yeonjun jump apart from each other and you turn to see his roommate, Soobin, standing with a scowl plastered on his face, an empty cereal bowl in hand. 

Yeonjun grumbles to himself, muttering ‘You're just jealous,’ as he grabs your hand, guiding you past Soobin and towards his dorm room door. At the same time, you quickly call out a goodbye to Soobin and Yeonjun sighs sadly when you both stop at his door. 

He pulls you close and you can feel his body heat seeping into you. It almost, almost, makes you want to stay, as you would rather be in the warm arms of your boyfriend than face the ten-minute walk home in the cold.

“Text me when you get home?” Yeonjun asks into your shoulder and you hum in response. 

“I will." 

Before you pull away completely, Yeonjun places a light kiss onto the side of your lips, leaving you open to steal one right back. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” this time Yeonjun is the one to hum. A small smile plays at his lips. “I love you.” 

You still for a moment at his words. You should say them back—you know you should—but you just can’t. They’re on the tip of your tongue and yet you fall silent instead. You settle for stealing another kiss from him and reaffirming your words from earlier, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

You can tell his smile is dripping in sadness, but you're unable to bring yourself to utter the words he so desperately wants to hear back from you. You look back and wave for a final time before you exit the hallway that leads you to the elevators and out of the building. 

When you finally make your way outside, you take a deep breath; it feels almost like a huge weight has been lifted from your shoulders. The pressure of staying over with Yeonjun is gone. But now in its place is another burden you’re not ready to think about. It had started creeping into the back of your mind the moment he said those words—a reminder of times gone by. Of another boy with dark hair and eyes that sparkled and those same, fateful words.

As you walk home, you shake your head, trying to push back the tears already threatening to cloud your vision. You’ve spent too long shoving down and ignoring those feelings just to ruin everything now by bringing them back up. You aren’t ready to think about it now and, as you look up at the clear, cloudless sky, you’re not sure if you ever will be.

It did not snow that winter. Not a single flake fell from the sky. 

22.

After years of not going to the neighborhood Christmas party, it feels weird to be back.

The party happens to be at Yeonjun’s family’s house this year, and once Yeonjun found this out, he jumped at the chance to introduce you to his family. You couldn’t help but smile at the hope swirling in his eyes that day as he gushed about how much they’ll love you.

But being the sweetheart that he is, he definitely noticed the doubt swimming in your eyes. He tried his best to reassure you, telling you how sweet his family is and how excited they are to finally meet you. 

That’s what wins you over, and now you’re here. The feeling of being home, or, at least, a few houses away from it, brings a warm feeling to your chest. To be able to spend it with your lovely boyfriend only deepens the feeling.

In a weird way, though, you notice bits and bits, just minor details that others seem to gloss over, that only tug at your heartstrings. From the movie playing on the flatscreen, to the gingerbread house tha’s about to be devoured by a wide-eyed seven-year-old, it brings this feeling of nostalgia that you can’t quite shake off. The more the night goes on, the more it seems to eat at you.

If you didn’t already think this was some weird full circle moment of sorts, you definitely do now.

Everywhere you look, all you seem to get is mirages of past times. Faint traces of Jeongin linger in the crevices of your mind. Even if it had been two years since you last saw him, he stuck to your memories like glue. 

You tried your best to push those memories to the side—to push the ick you felt every time something that reminded you of those moments away, even if it did send a chill down your spine. 

But Yeonjun just had to utter those words. “Want to stay over for Christmas?” 

It made you physically pause, the words processing in your mind. Ten years worth of memories surf through your mind at lightning speed. The slight word change gives you the worst feeling in your stomach you have ever felt—it was like a huge pit of emotions had opened up inside of you. 

You take a breath and exhale it slowly. “Do you mean stay for Christmas?” 

“Stay for Christmas, stay over for Christmas,” Yeonjun sighs, “same thing.” 

“It’s different,” is all you can mumble in response. 

Yeonjun groans, leaning his weight onto his hands that are placed on the counter sides. 

“One word difference.” 

You snap to face him, a stern look making an appearance on your face. Your voice dripping with irritation, you say, “But there’s still a difference.” 

You can cut the sudden tension that arises with a knife and it’s like that is exactly what Yeonjun chooses to do. He stands straight, turning to you, and you can see how tense his jaw is—like he’s been holding everything in, and how it’s now about to burst open at the seams. 

“We’ve been together for over a year and you still can’t even stay over. And when I offer to spend Christmas with you because I know it’s your favorite time of year, you fight me on it.” Yeonjun runs a hand through his hair in frustration. “Is it because I’m the one that’s asking?” 

“What?” you gasp, shaking your head. “It’s just, it’s stay for Christmas. Not stay over, not stay with, it’s stay for Christmas.”  

Yeonjun squeezes his eyes shut, hand still in his hair. All you can do is stare at him, waiting for what he says next. Once he does open his eyes, you can see the fogginess as in them, and when he speaks again, you feel like you’re being torn in two.

“But I’m not Jeongin, I can’t ask in the way he would.” 

You open your mouth to speak, shocked at his words, but nothing comes out. 

“What does Jeongin have to do with this?” You question. “I like you because you’re you, Yeonjun, not because you’re someone else.” 

You both stand there, staring at each other and you can’t help but feel like neither of your words are sinking in. Like they were falling onto deaf ears. 

“Well what about the snow?” Yeonjun suddenly asks. Had he been spending too much time with Jisung? 

“Yeonjun, baby, it’s just the weather,” you look at him with soft eyes, but all it seems to do is break him more.

With a hiccup, he tries to keep his tears at bay, “Then how come it never happens when we’re together?” 

You have to look away from him, not because you don’t care, but because if you look at him any longer, tears would spill from your own eyes. It would only just make everything harder than it already is.

Yeonjun’s sniffles fill your ears and from the corner of your eye, you can see him wipe his tears away. Even when he takes a few steps towards you and takes one of your hands in his, you’re still unable to look at him in fear of breaking. 

“I’ll walk you home,” he whispers gently. 

You gaze at the floor and nod your head, squeezing the hand that held yours. He squeezes it right back in a silent understanding. It’s like you hear both of your hearts cracking like glass in the silence, but it was unlike any type of heartbreak you had ever felt before… 

It can’t compare to the heartbreak you had with Heeseung, or even the heartbreak you felt when Jeongin left. This is its own brand of heartbreak, one that would last and one that would carve itself into your heart, a cruel reminder that will follow you for all time.

The walk back to your apartment is a quiet one. Your fingers stay linked with Yeonjun’s, and every now and then, you’d squeeze each other’s hands to remind yourself of the moment—of the feeling of your hands entwined with each other. 

When you’re outside of your door, it’s bittersweet and it’s heartbreaking. And when Yeonjun reluctantly draws his hand away from yours, you want everything to chase after it with your own. 

This is when you finally look up at him. 

His eyes are red and fresh tears have prickled up in his eyes as soon as they meet yours. As soon as you see his tears, your eyes quickly well up to match his. 

“We should,” he hiccups. “We should take some time apart.” 

You squeeze your eyes shut, sniffling away the sob that crawls up your throat. You feel Yeonjun’s light kiss on your cheek, and that sob defies you, escaping your lips. 

When Yeonjun pulls away, he speaks softly, as if speaking any louder would break him completely. “We’re on different pages and we both deserve people who aren’t.”

His lips linger on your cheek, like a silent plea begging you not to let him move away, but to pull him closer. To tell him that you both could make whatever it is you called a relationship work. 

But you don’t, and he soon pulls away, the warmth of his lips is quickly replaced with a damp, cold breeze. 

You regret opening your eyes when you do because you’re met with Yeonjun’s own tears rolling down his face. With no attempt to stop them, Yeonjun hiccups and looks away from you. 

“I’ll see you around, Y/N,” his voice strains. 

As he walks away, you open your mouth to yell out for him, but nothing comes out when you try. You just watch as he slowly disappears down the hallway, his shoulders hunched, shuddering slightly every time a quiet sob escapes him. 

You can’t tell if you’re lucky or not when you enter the apartment and realize that Jisung isn’t home. On one hand, you wouldn’t have to cry in front of him—on the other, you really don’t want to cry on your own. 

You trudge your way to your room, a numbness overtaking your body. You crave the warmth of your blankets and can’t wait to let them hold you in comfort as you cry for the rest of the night. 

When your blankets are secured around you and long after the tears have dried out, you sit there in self pity. Your phone is staring up at you, and you somehow find your way to your camera roll. An album of photos of you and Yeonjun sits right by your recents, and you’re hesitant to click on it. But you do, and the collection of photos from the past year and a half makes your heart wrench all over again.

You wish the relationship didn’t end this way as badly as he did, if not more. Yeonjun was perfect in every way—sweet, understanding, patient—yet, somehow, it still wasn’t enough to keep you two together.

“But I’m not Jeongin.” His words echo in your mind as you swipe through all of your selfies with him. He’s right: he’s not Jeongin. But that shouldn’t have mattered… right?

“I can’t ask in the way he would.”  He can’t.

Or can he?

If he had not flubbed the iconic line, not even with the slightest one-word difference… would you be where you are right now?

You let your phone drop onto the mattress as you ponder. Burrowing yourself further into your blankets, you try to imagine Yeonjun saying the line correctly this time. ‘Stay for Christmas?’ he’d chirp, hope lighting up his beautiful brown eyes. ‘Stay for Christmas?’ he’d pipe, a pure smile pulling his soft lips upward.

But it doesn’t feel right.

No matter how you try to picture it, there’s something about those words leaving Yeonjun’s mouth that makes your stomach twist. As hard of a time as you gave him about getting the phrase wrong, imagining him getting it right almost feels worse.

Maybe he can’t pull it off like Jeongin can. Maybe he was missing the awkward little beat Jeongin always carried when he uttered those three little words. Maybe he lacked the sheepish glow Jeongin always seemed to have creep up his cheeks when he said it, regardless of how coolly he tried to pull it off. Don’t forget the way he’d stupidly wiggle his eyebrows at you, and the faint little giggle that followed as he scrunched up his nose in embarrassment.

It’s a charm you truly believe only Jeongin could pull off.

But it shouldn’t have mattered that much. Jeongin wasn’t your boyfriend—Yeonjun was. And it’s not like Yeonjun didn’t have his own charm to him. His was more classic romantic, per se—always showing up at your doorstep with roses and a sweet smile, surprising you with dinner, taking you out for midnight drives while you blast both of your favorite songs. He’s a true Romeo, a type of lover that only exists in the movies.

“But I’m not Jeongin.”

You can’t stop Yeonjun’s gut-wrenching words from haunting your mind. It’s like the toll of a bell, its low tone ringing in every corner of your skull, shaking every crevice of your brain. Really, it shouldn’t bother you this much. 

For starters, Jeongin is no Romeo. You’ve witnessed him try to be one firsthand—multiple times, actually. The keyword here is ‘try’.

There really were no suave, overly romantic elements to Jeongin, like there were for guys in the movies. He doesn’t need big gestures like flower bouquets bigger than your head to show that he cares. It’s all in the details, the smaller things he did, how he knew you nearly better than you did yourself. Taking you to see the lights all those years ago meant more to you than any grand movie gesture ever could have. Ultimately, he doesn’t need anything else because he is enough as it is. It’s a thought that slowly crept in over time and you never even noticed until it hit you like a brick. He’s not picture-perfect, but that’s not who you want him to be.

He’s just… Jeongin. 

A part of you wants to admit it, but maybe, just maybe, he and stay for Christmas were what pushed your love for Christmas and the winter season more. But now that he isn’t here, that’s why it isn’t the same. 

Because is there really a Christmas without Stay for Christmas?

The longer you stare at the folder, filled to the brim with photos of you and Yeonjun over the course of your relationship, the more unbearable it becomes. Your thumb hovers over the back button, soon letting fall against the screen. 

Scrolling away as far as you could from it, another folder that instantly causes a mountain of flashbacks appears. Giggling at the joke title you named the album, you stare at it for a moment. You aren’t sure when the last time you looked at this album was. 

As soon as you click on it, you’re hit with a wave of bittersweet nostalgia so hard, it almost hurts.

It’s a compilation of photos of you and Jeongin, dating back to when your parents handed you your first smartphone. You’re able to scroll so far back that you can find photos of Jeongin in that obnoxious purple sweater. Somehow, as you look at it in that moment, it doesn’t seem as obnoxious as it used to be… 

Maybe it had grown on you, like stay for Christmas had grown on Jeongin. 

And how pictures of Christmases before (and all-year-round photos) made your heart seem to swell in a way you hadn’t felt in a while. All the lights that grazed your presence when you were with him, all the longer-than-necessary hugs you two shared in the snow, even the thoughts, the memories of it, are like little static shocks sending metaphorical butterflies swarming around you. It plays at your chest like a flute and it makes you begin to wonder… if the thought of Yeonjun or actually being around Yeonjun, or even his touch, made you feel that way.

You’d think since Yeonjun is—was—your boyfriend, you wouldn’t have to think so hard for the answer. Yet here you are, comparing everything you felt with Jeongin to how you felt with Yeonjun over the past year. 

It opens up the box of feelings you’ve tried so hard to push away. This time though, there’s no stopping it as everything bubbles up and spills over. 

You continue looking through the photos of you and Jeongin, hardly noticing when the pictures start to blur slightly, fresh tears making their way down your cheeks. You missed him, you missed him so much it makes your chest hurt. There’s no denying that anymore, not that there was ever a point to it anyway. You missed everything about him, how he knew you like the back of his own hand to how effortless things had been between you two for so long. 

A teary smile makes its way onto your face, unable to stop the overwhelming warmth that tore through you as you gaze at one photo of you two. Jeongin had an arm slung over your shoulders, braces-covered smile beaming up at you from the screen. You had a grin to match, happy and effortless, without a care in the world. 

That’s how Jeongin had always made you feel, even during times when you had disagreements or fought over stupid things. At the end of the day, you always made your way back to him. Because ultimately, nobody else could make you feel the way he could—like you were safe, like you were home.

Eventually you ran out of photos to look through, and somehow you made your way to your messages, scrolling through and rereading old texts from Jeongin. 

i miss you… you type out, take a deep breath, and hit send.

Instantly, he responds, making your heart swirl treacherously. i miss you too.

A second later, another text appears from him, making one last wave of tears pool in your eyes. stay for christmas?

The timing truly couldn’t be any worse than this, but you can’t deny the real reason behind your outburst anymore. All the seemingly-random bursts of butterflies in your stomach when you were a teenager slowly start to make sense. All the times your heart would skip a beat whenever he looked at you a certain way, the telltale sense of warmth you felt when you were even around him; heck, the entire incident at the winter formal—it all adds up. 

There’s no denying who your heart yearns for anymore. And, if given the choice, there’s no denying which dark-haired boy you would live everything with all over again. No more running away, only running back to him—if only fate would let you.

wouldn’t miss it for the world.

23.

“Why so glum, chum?”

You barely move your head from where you’re curled up on the sofa to look at your roommate as he bounces into the living room. His overly energetic skips come to a halt right behind you and he looms his head above you, letting the corners of his mouth drag into an exaggerated pout.

You let out a slow breath and stare back at him with solemn eyes. The weather had dropped to the all-too-familiar December chill, rainbow lights adorned the city—heck, you’re watching A Charlie Brown Christmas for the third time in a row—but you can’t seem to will yourself into the Christmas spirit even if you tried. The reason seems pretty obvious to you.

For better or worse, the boy tapping his fingers on the back of the couch as he waits impatiently for your answer is one you’ve known for years. Over time, he’s morphed from the awkward older kid that ‘needs to take a couple babies under [his] wing’, to a sweet (when he wants to be)—dare you say, mature (again, when he wants to be)—older brother figure of sorts. If anyone knows why you’re so somber as you wallow in candy cane wrappers and your favorite ugly Christmas sweater, it should be him. 

“You know why,” you grumble.

You think that’s enough of an answer, but Jisung bends down to get a better look at you and attempts to pry more. 

“Hmm, do I?”

Another, more irritated huff leaves your parted lips as you turn to Lucy mercilessly grilling Charlie Brown, and you make damn sure your back is to your snoopy roommate.

Why do you even need to explain yourself to him? Jisung has literally had a front-row seat to the entire story since before he knew how to part his hair properly. He watched you slowly and hopelessly fall for your best friend before his very eyes since you were sixteen. He witnessed you delude yourself into a bottomless pit of denial for years, pushing yourself down so far that not even the most picture-perfect guy could pull you out.

Your life might as well be a sappy romance anime unfolding right in front of him, and Jisung knows every minute detail, every moment of development, every tear you shed for Jeongin like the back of his hand. He could whip up a play-by-play of your history with that boy faster than he can for the plot of Your Name—and he loves that movie.

But you guess as the older brother figure, it also means he has to annoy the living hell out of you for it. Not that he didn’t in the first place, but usually he’d, you know, comfort you when you’re upset. 

Waddling around the couch to plop next to you, with overdramatized puppy eyes boring into your soul, is not that comforting.

“Come onnn, Y/N,” Jisung sing-songs, poking at your cheek. “Talk to me.”

Your frown etches further downward. You don’t do anything to move his hand, though, and opt to just turn your head back to the Peanuts characters.

“Cheer up, sugarplum.” Jisung now squishes your cheeks in one hand like a doting mother. It earns a whine from you, and you finally slap his hand away.

“Jisung.” You sigh, keeping your eyes on the TV. “I’m really, really not in the mood for celebrating Christmas this year.”

It makes your heart ache to actually admit it out loud, but you’d be lying if you tried to say otherwise. Christmas will always be your favorite time of the year, but all the memories you carry with it hurt too much now. It’s all a gaping hole in your stomach that you can’t patch.

“I know, I know,” Jisung says simply, but a heart-shaped smile slowly forms as he speaks. You blink as you stare blankly at him—you don’t like that sparkle in his eye. 

That suspicious grin only widens as he utters his next words.

“That’s why we’re hosting a Christmas party next week.” 

Your heart stops for a second, and you stare at Jisung with wide eyes.

“We?!” 

You’re sure Jisung senses the aggravation in your voice. You already, and very blatantly, you may add, have made it clear that all you want for Christmas this year is to wallow in your blanket burrito and watch whatever cheesy film Hallmark was putting out. 

But of course, Jisung won’t let that happen. You know he means well, but you still wonder for a second why you agreed to move in with him once he graduated and came back home from college.

“You know this is my apartment, too, right?” you add. 

“I know, but just trust me!” He beams, and it only makes you scowl more. “Oh, wait…”

His phone flashes on, a notification popping up on his lockscreen, and whatever it is seems to elate his already excessively cheerful mood. You peer over his shoulder with curious eyes as his thumbs fly across the keyboard, but Jisung places a palm to your forehead and pushes your head away before you can get a glimpse.

“Nuh uh, that’s private!” He tuts, and you frown at him again. As he slides his phone back in his pocket, the cheesy smile returns to his face. Once again, you’re not a fan.

“I need you to trust me, okay?” he says. “It’ll be fun! It’s just gonna be you, me, and our closest friends. Promise.”

You’re still not super on board with the idea. Even a small hangout seems too much for you right now, and you can practically feel the flashbacks from the last few years haunting your mind as you think.

“I… I don’t know, Jisung.”

“If I give you hot chocolate right now, would that influence your decision?”

You watch as Jisung turns around, whipping out two to-go cups from right next to him. A small smile makes its way to your face as he hands you one.

“I’ll think about it,” you mumble, taking a sip of the warm drink.

The gesture is surprisingly enough to make you say ‘yes’ a few harrowing (for Jisung) hours later, and that’s how you find yourself at your and Jisung’s “Christmas Eve Eve Spectacular”. Why Christmas Eve Eve? Who knows, but you did hear Jisung mumble something about being able to go to your neighborhood party in peace. Weird, especially when he seems to know that it’s on Christmas Eve this year. 

Regardless, you think you did a good job of decorating the apartment for the occasion. Besides the small Christmas tree in the living room themed red and gold, you and Jisung had wrapped matching garlands above the curtains and hung wreaths on your bedroom doors. Your couch was adorned with throw pillows you had gotten on sale a week ago, and, because you didn’t have a fireplace, you opted to hang the stockings right above the TV instead. It’s very homey, yet screams young and broke at the same time.

The entertainment is even better. Something about Frosty The Snowman playing on the TV while a bunch of grown men yell at each other playing Twister just feels very college Friendsmas-esque to you. The best part? You’re in charge of the spinner. You can get your daily dose of Christmas cartoons without being trapped under a bunch of loud, sweaty guys.

“You’re cheating!” Hyunjin accuses Felix, slapping his hand from the yellow dot.

“It’s not my fault you don’t know what yellow means!” Felix yells back. He slams his hip into Hyunjin’s side and makes him topple over.

The taller boy gasps dramatically, pointing at Felix as he lies on the floor. “Now you really cheated, asshole!”

You snicker and shake your head at the boys’ shenanigans. You’ve nearly forgotten about the sour mood you were in just days ago; maybe giving in to Jisung’s incessant begging was the right decision.

Speaking of Jisung, he doesn’t seem too into the Twister game, and he’s usually one of the most competitive of the bunch. He was the first one out this round, claiming he “accidentally stumbled” on Seungmin’s hand as he “reached for the wrong dot”very early in the game. Weird.

From the corner of your eye, you can see him fervently checking his phone instead of watching the game, and sometimes, you’d catch a smug smile painting his face briefly before he quickly snaps back to a neutral facade. You’re tempted to snatch the boy’s phone from his hands and read whatever the hell is making him smirk so much.

After a moment, you focus back on the game. Seungmin and Felix are the only two left. Both are at the brink of collapsing, their entangled arms wobbling under them, and you’re placing bets with Hyunjin on who will fall first.

Felix’s arms give out first, after attempting to contort around himself and Seungmin as he stretches for a red dot. He groans out in pain, and you unceremoniously shove five dollars into Hyunjin’s hands as he revels in his victory.

“Thanks for the early present, Y/N,” he says, smiling cheesily.

You make a face akin to a grimace and roll your eyes. “Yeah, yeah.”

“I want a rematch!” Felix’s voice audibly cracks as he whines, lying in a starfish position on the floor. 

“Why did you try to go under and not over me?!” Seungmin remarks with an incredulous stare.

Hyunjin snickers. “That’s what she said.”

You smack him on the chest as the other boys groan. “Oh shut up, Hyunjin!” You hiss, shaking your head at the very mature joke. “We can do a rematch, though, but it’s up to you two,” you add, pointing two fingers at Felix and Seungmin.

Before you bend down to fix the bunched-up Twister mat, you turn to Hyunjin one more time. “And no more dirty jokes!”

The doorbell rings through the small apartment, making a look of puzzlement cross your face. You know you aren’t expecting anyone besides the boys that are already here, so you look to Jisung to see if he is. 

“Did you order takeout, Ji?”

Jisung shakes his head at you, but a small smile graces his lips. “Nope.”

You blink. “…Did you order a package?”

He chuckles lightly. “One could say that.”

The growing gleam in his eye makes you furrow your brow more. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

His small smile morphs into a Cheshire-like grin.

“Why don’t you get the door and find out?”

You stare at him with a twisted face as you slowly get up. You really, really don’t like that sparkle in his eye.

Your stomach jumps with uneasiness as you make your way to the door. Part of it was due to Jisung’s odd phrasing, but regardless, you’re almost terrified to find out what lies on the other side. You just cross your fingers and hope it’s a terrible gift at best that you can pretend to like.

Your hand shakes as you slowly twist the top lock open, then the bottom. Then you pull the door open, and you feel your heart rattle in your chest at the sight.

“…Jeongin?”

You feel like you’re dreaming as you stare at the boy in front of you. Jeongin has a comfy, dark purple sweater over a white hoodie—an actually decent shade of purple that’s pleasing to the eye. He runs a hand through his messy black hair as he smiles at you, letting out a deep but nervous chuckle when he realizes he’s just fluffed his hair up more. He’s grown it out since you last saw him, and his bangs perfectly frame his face, some strands falling in front of his eyes.

You feel the breath sucked out of your lungs. Not because he looks good (but you’re not denying that), or because you pick up a hint of sandalwood and amber lingering from him that nearly makes you dizzy—but because you feel all the memories from over the years flood in all at once. First come the good memories, and there’s tons of them. The several times you played hooky with him, the night he took you to see the glittering lights… the day you first met. It all brings a warm feeling to your chest, sending your heart fluttering as a light blush coats your cheeks.

But right after the good, you’re brought back down to earth with the bad. You’re fortunate that the bad is so little compared to the good, but the night before he left for college so suddenly is one you just can’t erase, no matter how hard you try. Memories of concerned glances and the surging feelings of regret and heartbreak make themselves known once again. Every moment of longing and the mixed feelings of wanting to reconnect with him, to be by his side again, causes your insides to twist in uncomfortable ways.

You can’t tell if you want to yell at him after leaving and not telling you himself, or if you want to run into his arms and never let him go.

Say something, Y/N, your mind screams at you as you remain frozen in place. But what are you supposed to say to someone so dear to your heart, that also happens to be the reason it’s ached for all these years?

You draw in another breath, and you stammer out the first thing that comes to mind.

“H-Hi.”

You mentally slap yourself. That’s all you have to say? You have been yearning for this moment for three years, and all you can come up with is ‘hi’?

Luckily, Jeongin seems to reciprocate, mumbling a “hey” back with an awkward wave, but you still want to kick yourself for your pitiful attempt at a greeting.

You turn around to see Jisung visibly deflate at the interaction. It’s clear now that he’s had this surprise planned for a while, and all his offhand murmurs from the past week about ‘getting the band back together’ are starting to make much more sense. 

He blinks, and in a moment’s notice, his frown is gone and he sweeps in to save the moment.

“Jeongin, come here, my honey sweet!”

You chuckle fondly as Jisung smothers Jeongin with bone-crushing hugs and excessive hair ruffles. It’s just like when you were all awkward tweens and teenagers in the school hallways, except Jisung wasn’t randomly popping up behind you two, and you were all considerably shorter. You forgot how much you missed that.

“We’re about to play another round of Twister,” Jisung chirps after a minute, his arms still securely around the younger. “But I think Hyunjin, Felix, and Seungmin all want to go against each other, so you can go next round.”

Hyunjin cocks a brow. “No, they just said everyone can joi—”

“No they didn’t, Hyunjin,” Jisung bites back through gritted teeth, and sends the blond a look that makes him cower back to the living room. 

Once Hyunjin leaves the room, Jisung turns to a confused Jeongin. “Y/N’s spinning. You can keep her company, maybe catch up a bit while you’re at it?” he suggests.

Jeongin smiles lightly, but he’s shoved into the living room with you in tow before he can verbally respond.

You’re both unceremoniously pushed into your tacky Christmas pillows, and Jisung hands you the spinner. He even does the first spin for you, and sends you a wink as he moves to sit by the window.

You just blink, waiting for the arrow to come to a full stop. “Seungmin, left foot on blue,” you call when it does.

As Seungmin is stepping onto the end blue circle, you spin the spinner again, nibbling on your lip anxiously as you feel Jeongin’s body heat radiating onto you. It makes you want to squirm, and you try your best to keep your eyes on the spinner. 

“Felix, left hand, red.” 

Felix mumbles to himself, but you’re not sure what as you’re not really listening. Once he settles on a dot, you flick the spinner again. 

Jeongin clears his throat and fiddles with his fingers in his lap. “How have you been?” He attempts—keyword: attempts—to ask casually. 

You’re so focused on watching the spinner, all you do is hum in response. When the spinner slows and stops, you clear your own throat. “Jisung, right foot, green,” you call out, “and… alright,” you mumble afterward. “I’ve been alright, you?”

He watches you as you flick the plastic arrow again. “I’ve… I’ve been okay…”He trails off like he wants to say more, but he remains quiet. 

“Hyunjin, left hand, yellow.” 

You’re not sure how long you guys sit there silently for, but your insides feel like they’re trying to claw their way out of you. Maybe ten minutes of silence feels like ten hours, and you desperately pray for the game to end so you could do literally anything else.

If only your thirteen-year-old self could see you now. Maybe you were too dramatic that Christmas, because you are sure this just took the throne as The Most Awkward Conversation Of Your Life™. 

Out of nowhere, a loud gasp booms over Michael Bublé’s “Have A Holly Jolly Christmas”, the boys’ shouting, and whatever cartoon autoplayed after Frosty ended. Everyone’s heads snap to Jisung, who stares with sparkly eyes at the world outside.

You lean past Jeongin to get a glance. Light gray skies, slow-floating crystals, fluffy white blanket… it makes you break out into a grin. So does Jeongin, who smiles fondly as he pats your knee. The move makes you want to do backflips.

“Oh my god, snow!” Jisung cheers, already scurrying for the door. He mutters something about it being ‘just what he needed’ as he zips past you and Jeongin, but quickly turns on his heel when he sees neither of you move a muscle.

“Um, hello?!” the older boy chastises you and Jeongin, tossing you your coats and hitting you both in the face. “It’s the first snow of winter, what are you doing?!” He claps his hands for emphasis, but not before he shoves a pair of mittens into both your hands. “You need. To see. The snow.”

You exchange a knowing look with Jeongin but follow Jisung’s hasty instructions. Neither of you seem to move as fast as he wants you to be, so he does the job for you by hurriedly, but carefully, pushing you both down the stairs and to the lobby.

Jeongin presses his lips into a thin line, stepping closer to you as Jisung dashes back up the stairs to get the rest of the group. You smile back politely, but say nothing else. 

You turn back to the stairs at the sound of Jisung’s voice bouncing off the walls. Whether he knows you two could hear him or not, you don’t think he cares, considering that he’s already yelling at the top of his lungs.

“SEE!” He motions around himself widely. “I TOLD YOU IT’D SNOW WHEN THEY WERE TOGETHER!” A dopey smile covers his face as he holds his hands up to his chest, like he himself had just miraculously fallen in love. “It’s like magic!” 

Judging from a quick glance behind you as you make your way toward the front doors, Hyunjin seems to fully indulge in Jisung’s antics, smiling brightly and hopping up and down as they bound down the stairs. Felix and Seungmin, who trail behind them, don’t seem nearly as amused.

“Jisung, bro,” Seungmin blinks, “It’s literally just the weather.” 

Jisung’s smile drops instantly and he glares at the brunet boy, pointing a finger at him. “No! You had to be there for everything, trust me! I’M NOT CRAZY, WATCH!” 

The listless look doesn’t drop from Seungmin’s face as he follows his overly chipper friend downstairs.

Jeongin snorts, lightly bumping his shoulder into your own. “He’s still on that?” 

You open the front door for the both of you, rolling your eyes. “He never stopped, seriously.” 

The cold air hits you instantly and you’re glad Jisung gave you your gloves to wear. You scan the area around you and the only other people in sight are a group of children across the street. The ever-growing white blanket in front of your apartment complex is all yours and Jeongin’s—anything’s free game.

Unfortunately, the delicate, white crystals fluttering down around you do nothing to help the tension looming between you both. It followed you out of your apartment like a dark storm cloud, and now it’s raining on your snowy parade. You hate it. But you don’t know how to get rid of it.

“Sooo…” you start, and just as quickly trail off. “What now?”

Jeongin just shrugs, watching a snowflake fall to the ground. 

You sigh, mostly to yourself. Looks like you’re going to have to take the lead. You begin to roll up a ball of snow, making it bigger and bigger in hopes of building a snowman.

The bigger and more round your snowman base gets, the more that the little rain cloud between you and Jeongin seems to shrink away. Even though you haven’t said a word to the boy and nearly forgotten he was even there, something about playing in the snow together in silence is… healing. It’s therapeutic in its own right, the soft crystals somehow bringing a feeling of warmth to your chest as you bring out your inner child.

Just as you’re finished with the top body part and you’re lifting it up ready to place, a sudden impact of cold, wet snow hits the back of your neck and begins to slither down your back. This results in you dropping the snowman’s body and you gasp as it breaks apart into heaps on the floor. 

Turning around, you pout as Jeongin looks at you with a cheeky smile playing at his lips. He looks away, whistling innocently and shoving his hands into his coat pockets. Your glare hardens and you quickly pick up the precious bit of used snow, squishing it into a ball before lobbing it in Jeongin’s direction, just barely missing his left arm. 

“You need to work on your aim,” Jeongin remarks cockily, and you scrabble another snowball in your hands. 

Throwing the haphazardly-made snowball in his direction, his laughter fills your ears and makes the butterflies in your stomach fly. You duck as his own snowball is about to hit you, and it just skims the back of your head. 

“This is war!” You glare at your best friend. “You made me mess up my snowman!” 

“Why focus on your snowman when you can focus on me?” Jeongin laughs, making your heart speed up again. 

You hide behind the pitiful remains of your snowman and hold your hands to your cheeks. Sure, you were in a war, but you couldn’t let him see that his words affected you. You could have blamed it on the cold, but would Jeongin really believe it?

“You can’t hide forever,” Jeongin sings, his voice getting nearer and nearer. 

Keeping a watchful eye over your shoulder, you attempt to make a bunch of snowballs as you try to will the color on your cheeks away. You try to calm your breathing, suppressing any giggles that threaten to come out as you grow your small pile of ammo.

As you scramble to prepare for whenever Jeongin plans to pelt you with snowballs, all your worries seem to melt away. Adrenaline rushes through your body as you hear Jeongin’s boots crunch in the snow, but you also feel a wave of calm wash over you. It’s just you, Jeongin, and the white blanket of snow surrounding you two. Just like when you were little.

You missed this.

A small giggle escapes your lips as you peer over your shoulder one more time. Jeongin doesn’t seem to be sneaking up on you—in fact, he’s nowhere in sight. You turn around and let out a sigh of relief. You’re safe.

Until you notice Jeongin towering over you, smirking deviously.

“Did you miss me?”

You let out a squeal, backing yourself against your crumbling snowman as you frantically chuck snowballs his way. He seems to be unfazed by it, only chuckling as the snowballs split into pieces as they hit his chest, and he steps closer to you. 

Soon, you’re resorting to flinging pathetic scoops of snow at him as you try to scoot back. You’re in a fit of giggles as he inches closer, your heartbeat quickening his pace as you chuck one more blob of snow to hopefully deter him. 

It strikes him square in the face.

Your jaw drops in surprise, and you can only watch as Jeongin wordlessly wipes the snow off his face. You search his face for any sign of hurt, fearing you might’ve gone too far, but you only find a mischievous glint in his eye.

Oh no.

You gulp as he drops to his knees and continues to close the gap between you, his smug smile growing wider. A nervous giggle escapes your lips as you watch for his next move, and you grab another handful of snow in your mitt to get ready to fight back—then you feel his fingers at your sides.

“Jeongin, stopppp~!” 

You’re unable to control your laughter as Jeongin mercilessly tickles you. Any attempts at pushing him away are quickly proved fruitless by a shove of his hand, and you’re left thrashing around helplessly as he continues to torture you. 

You’ve practically been thrown into the pillow of former-snowman behind you by the time Jeongin sits back and lets you go. Gasping for air, you let out another giggle as you watch him bend over, hands on the snow by either of your sides as he catches his breath as well.

The air around you falls silent as you stare up at him. You search his face again, your chest heaving up and down. You can’t find any more signs of incoming mischief, but you find his soft gaze staring back at you, and the rosy color pricking at his cheeks. You assume his blush is from the cold, but you know yours is from otherwise.

Another few seconds pass and Jeongin still hasn’t tormented you. A smirk slowly spreads across your face as an idea sparks on your mind. 

Before you can even think it through, you spring up, arms outstretched as you pounce in his direction. He has no time to react before you tackle him, fingers going to his sides as you tickle him and get your sweet revenge. 

“You asshole!” You shriek in between giggles.

It’s now Jeongin’s turn to try to shove your hands away as he scoots back, an endless stream of giggles escaping his mouth as well. Hearing his laughter ring in your ears makes you laugh more in turn as you shuffle after him. You both grapple around for a moment and eventually land on the ground, you on top of Jeongin, your legs all tangled together.

You tickle him for another second when you look up and pause. It’s then that you realize just how close your faces are to each other, and suddenly, you forget how to breathe. Everything goes still for a moment as you stare at him with wide eyes. One more movement and you’d be kissing him.

You pray that Jeongin doesn’t feel your heart hammering against your ribcage as you’re pressed up against him, but you can’t help but wonder if his heart is doing backflips in his own chest.

Unable to take the thoughts swirling inside your head anymore, you roll off of him and onto your back, looking up at the sky. Tiny snowflakes fall around you in a light, gentle flow, but a steady one—it almost feels reassuring. It’s like the universe is sending you a message, in its own special way, that everything will be alright. 

You take a deep breath and look over at the boy next to you. His eyelashes flutter against his cheeks as he blinks, wide eyes gazing up at the snow. A couple snowflakes seem to fall on his face and he scrunches up his nose as he giggles. A fond smile decorates your lips as you watch him, and you feel your heart quicken its pace once again.

Another moment passes and Jeongin turns his head to you. “What's wrong?” he asks, eyebrows furrowed slightly. 

You shake your head and start moving to stand up. “It’s nothing, just…” you trail off, unsure what to say next. You hold out a hand to help him to his feet as well. 

The two of you stand in silence for some time. You take a small step closer to him, and you can’t deny the way your heart swells in your chest as you take in the scene around you. The snow seems to dance around you two, swirling around gently as if the crystals are casting a gentle spotlight on you both. When your eyes land back on Jeongin, you note the snowflakes that dot his chestnut hair and perfectly complement his slightly messy curls. It’s adorably awkward, but he looks cozy, like… almost like home.

He turns his head to look at you and gives you a smile that sends warmth spreading through your whole body. There’s a gentleness to his gaze as his eyes meet yours, and the way he reaches over to move a strand of hair away from your face nearly makes you melt. A faint blush dusts his cheeks as he steps closer to you, closing the distance between you two, and you hope he doesn’t notice your already rosy cheeks glow a deeper red.

“Stay for Christmas?” he whispers.

There’s no helping the grin that grows on your face at the familiar words. 

“Just come here.”

You can hear the squeals of the children across the street (and Jisung from behind you), but you feel at peace as you lean up to wrap your arms around Jeongin’s neck. A small chuckle reverberates through you as you feel him snugly hug you back, and you tuck your head in his shoulder.

You still don’t believe the snow is the seasonal deity that Jisung swears by, but something about the way it gently cascades down feels like it’s wrapping you both in a warm blanket and reassuring you that you’re okay. That you’re home. As Jeongin gently rests his head against yours and sways the two of you back and forth, you realize that this was what you were missing the whole time; not only in your old neighborhood, but during the time Jeongin was away.

Turns out the magic you always felt during this time of year wasn’t just in the snow. It wasn’t just in the whimsicality of Christmas cartoons, or your utter fascination with the holiday lights, either. It’s the feeling of comfort that comes with it, the feeling of knowing that someone who cares about you will be there to do it all with you a thousand times over. That special feeling that only Jeongin has been able to give to you all these years, even if it’s awkward at times, even if you’ve consumed one too many cups of hot chocolate for his liking… the feeling of being home.

You realize that Jeongin is more than just your best friend and your longtime crush—he’s home. And if it takes a bit of snow to realize that, that’s magic enough for you.

24...

Christmas has changed a lot since the previous year with you and Jeongin officially being back at best friend status—not that he had ever left. But just knowing he’s finally home is enough to rekindle your affinity for the holidays that you’ve been lacking for the past few years. Now it’s finally here, and the fire inside you is burning brighter than ever. 

With it being a newfound tradition in the Y/Nsung household—funny enough, you actually coined the name—your apartment this year is once again the main headquarters for all things Christmas festivities. And this time, it’s on Christmas Eve. You thought it’d be fitting, considering your shared history with Jeongin over the date. Like last year, you took care to decorate the apartment to a T, pretty garlands and shades of red and green glistening all over the living area.

The party had very much been a success, with only a few disagreements (read: screaming matches) between Hyunjin and Felix about who was actually better at the chosen game, and who was, in fact, cheating. You suspected both of them cheated at some point, but decided staying silent was probably the better option. 

And after a hearty meal of Chinese take-out from the 24/7 open restaurant, the three boys, minus Jeongin, called it a night and headed out for the comforts of their warm beds. You could still hear Hyunjin and Felix arguing as they left, with a sulking Seungmin behind them, grumbling something about having to listen to them all the way back to their hotel. 

You close the door behind them and turn to your best friend. He’s standing rather close to you, making your heart speed up slightly. The small smile that covers his face leaves you feeling comforted, loved.

It’s crazy how much can happen in a year. The awkwardness you feared would persist after being apart for three years had melted away after Jeongin (and Jisung) surprised you with his return, after that impromptu snowball fight that set your heart alight. You two spent the following few days doing some much-need catching up, and now, you’re closer than ever. It was like he never left home. Or, rather, like you were finally home.

“I thought you would have gone with them,” you mention, your own smile playing at your lips. 

Jeongin shrugs, opening his arms out wide, indicating his need for a hug. “Just wanted to spend more time with you.” You giggle, shuffling into his arms. “Without all of the yelling,” he finishes his sentence as a mumble. 

“Yeah,” you sigh into his chest. “This is much nicer.” 

Maybe it’s weird to say that you feel something in the air shift. Or maybe it was the way Jeongin subtly changed his grip on you, but something seems different all of a sudden. 

“Are you okay?” Your voice comes out softer than you expected, but when Jeongin holds you tighter and just sighs, your suspicions become elevated. 

He lets his arms fall from you and he slips one hand into your own, leading you back into your living room. An uncomfortable silence sifts between you two.

“Jeonginnie?” you finally say after another moment.

“I need to talk to you about something.” He frowns, pulling you down so you’re sitting next to him. “It’s serious.” 

A frown of your own instantly takes its place on your face. Jeongin sits there, his gaze on your one hand in his lap, and he plays with your fingers in hopes of calming himself down. 

“And I need to tell you because I don’t want what happened before to repeat itself.” Jeongin explains. “I don’t want to go however many years to go by again because I didn’t tell you myself.” He continues, now looking at you. 

Eyebrows furrowed, you gaze at him. “Jeongin, what’s going on?” 

“I… I got a job offer…”

You’re about to open your mouth and congratulate him, then he finishes his sentence, finally looking you in the eye.

“…but it’s two cities away.” 

If Jeongin listened carefully enough, he could’ve heard your heart crack in your chest.

“Oh…” 

He nods his head solemnly. “My parents are flying out with me tomorrow night to go check out apartments.” His gaze falls back to your hand that’s on his lap, and his voice grows softer as he continues to explain. “We’ll be back by New Year’s, but… once we settle on a place and sign the lease…” 

“…You’ll be leaving again,” you quietly finish his sentence, your voice wavering at the end. He nods once more. 

It’s like you were nineteen all over again, but this time, you had Jeongin in front of you—almost softening the blow. All the emotions you felt after he had left the first rush back to the surface all at once, and you nearly feel like you’re drowning. 

But you stuff it all down. You shove it back in the crackling dam that is your heart, at least for the moment. You can let out your frustration with the world when Jeongin goes home. Not now.

Be strong, Y/N. 

“We can still text,” you begin, your voice filled with hope—at least, you pray that’s what comes across. “And call and FaceTime.” 

The sides of Jeongin’s lips turn up into a small smile. Slowly, he moves his hand so it’s wrapped in yours, entwining your fingers together and giving it a reassuring squeeze. 

“We will.” He looks up at you again. “I just wanted to be the one to tell you this time.” 

You squeeze his hand back. Your heart races. “I appreciate that.” 

A thick, heavy silence spreads across the room. You’re too focused on gazing into Jeongin’s eyes to care about the world outside of your little bubble with him. But your heart cries out, not wanting the moment to end. Not when this could be the last night you see Jeongin for a while.

You want to hold his hand and hold him in your arms and never let him go. But you know you can’t do that. Not when this job could be a big deal for him, not when it could change his whole life. 

So you let the warmth from his hand seep into yours. You let your head fall onto his shoulder. You let the butterflies fly in all directions at the sight, and feeling, of his sweet gaze on you. The one you’ll miss so dearly when he’s gone.

The one you’ll cherish for as long as you can.

“YAHOOOO!!”

A loud yell echoes throughout the apartment, causing your stares to break and Jeongin to drop your hand. With the yell coming from the only other known person in the apartment, you silently think of the ways you’d hurt Jisung in his sleep tonight for ruining the moment.

Soon, a trail of slamming doors and footsteps are heard, growing in frequency and volume as they get closer and closer to the living room. Then the living room door swings open and slams against the wall, Jisung’s hand stopping it from bouncing back and hitting him in the face whilst he prances into the room with the largest gummy smile you've ever seen. His cheeks are all pink and he looks like he could burst into happy tears at any moment.

“Guess what, my babies!” he sings, maybe a little too lively, “Looks like your guardian angel came to the rescue, Jeongin’s not leaving tomorrow!”

Blinking, you sit there, your lips twisting into a confused grimace as he dramatically wipes the corners of his eyes with his sleeve. You want to wholeheartedly believe your fanatical roommate. You wish so desperately for this to just be some bad dream you’re about to wake up from. But the way your heart continues to squeeze in your chest, even as Jisung skipped into the room so cheerfully, tells you all of this is real. The idea that a last-minute Christmas miracle is about to turn things around sounds too good to be true.

You’re about to interject and beg Jisung to explain, but he beats you to it, sensing the skepticism on your and Jeongin’s faces. “Look outside!” He feverishly points to the window. “You’ll see what I mean!”

Lifting your head off Jeongin’s shoulder, you exchange confused looks with the younger boy as you both get on your feet. He leads the way to the window by your front door, blindly reaching behind him for your hand and connecting your fingers when he finds it. You notice Jisung wiggling his eyebrows at you and almost let go to make him stop, but Jeongin lightly squeezes your hand before your fingers can slip away. 

Heat rises to your cheeks as you push the blinds to the side, and you hope Jeongin doesn’t glance your way and notice. Luckily, he’s too occupied with gaping at the scene outside. And so are you.

It is, in fact, snowing—and it’s snowing hard. Wind howls against your thin apartment walls as the icy flakes come pouring down, a thick, white fog blurring your view of the street below you. 

“Wow…” you mumble to yourself. In the fifteen or so years since you’ve moved, you’ve never witnessed a snowfall this hard. Let alone on the first snow of winter.

“It’s snowing like this all over the country,” Jisung remarks, showing the two of you the weather report on his phone. Jeongin scrolls through the list with one finger and, to his horror, the city where his new job is located is there. 

“You know what that means?” Jisung continues, a small smirk on his face. “No leaving, at least for a few days.”

You keep your gaze out the window, your spirits brightening at the news. As selfish as it was, you could barely control the surge of happiness bursting inside you at the thought of having Jeongin around for a little while longer. 

Maybe a Christmas miracle is possible.

You completely miss Jeongin’s loved-up stare as you look back at him, a concerned frown on your face. “What about your flight tomorrow?”

He shrugs, rubbing his thumb in circles on the back of your hand. “I’ll figure something out,” he mumbles.

He steps closer to you, and you swear you see sparkles in his eyes as he gazes into your own. You forget Jisung is there as the taller boy leans down until your noses are nearly touching. A small smile grazes his features as he whispers, a gentle but playful timbre to his voice:

“Stay for Christmas?” 

“I– um– uh–” you sputter at the sudden close contact, your eyes widening in surprise. You take a second to breathe and recompose yourself before you try again, sheepishly gesturing to the window, “I don’t think you have a choice.” 

You carefully watch Jeongin for his reaction. He seems to lean forward, inching his face even closer to yours, and you feel your breath get caught in your throat. 

The boy squeezes your hand and leans his forehead against yours, a shameless grin on his face as he flashes you a wink.

“Fine by me.”

You pray that he can’t hear your heart pounding in your chest, or that he doesn’t mention how red your cheeks are. You note the pink tint dusting his cheeks as he steps back, in case he decides to tease you for the latter. Despite your embarrassment, the shy giggle that slips out his mouth still makes you smile.

Jisung suddenly breaks the moment with a dreamy sigh, a hand flying over his heart. “And it’s all thanks to snow!” 

You roll your eyes dismissively. “How much longer are you going to keep on about this magic snow?” you ask, causing Jisung to snort. 

“As long as I want, Miss Tuxedo Effect.” 

You can practically hear the shit-eating grin on Jisung's face. You drop Jeongin’s hand as you snap your head to the older boy, throwing a scowl his way.

“‘Miss Tuxedo Effect?’” Jeongin questions, an eyebrow raised as he looks between the two of you. 

If your cheeks weren’t already as red as a tomato, they surely are now. “Don’t ask,” you grumble, swiftly heading to the kitchen to try and evade his prying. To your disdain, he follows you like a lost puppy.

“What’s he talking about?” he asks again. When Jisung, who’s treading behind you two in amusement, goes to open his mouth, you glare him into silence.

“It’s nothing.”

That seems to shut your overly curious best friend up long enough for you to pour yourself a glass of milk. The less Jeongin knew about the tuxedo effect incident, the better. You don’t need two boys torturing you about it, especially when the first one still refuses to let it go after eight years.

You watch him in silence as your drink heats up in the microwave, his eyebrows knitted together as he tries to search your and Jisung’s faces for answers. You maintain a poker face, but of course Jisung revels in Jeongin’s nosiness.

“Jeongin, think about it,” he hums, casually taking a bite of one of Felix’s cookies. You resist the urge to slap it out of his hand.

“Don’t,” you glower at him.

“How many times has she seen guys in tuxedos?” Jisung continues, his cheeks casually puffed up with food.

“Depends,” Jeongin looks to his friend and shuffles closer to you, “are we counting movies?”

Jisung snorts, nearly spitting out a chunk of chewed-up cookie. “Don’t include movies!” He covers his mouth with one hand as he gulps the bite down. “You’ll never narrow it down if you do!”

Your jaw drops in offense as the boys fill the kitchen with giggles. “Hey!”

An embarrassed flush creeps onto your cheeks again and you turn to pull your mug out of the microwave. You take a sip of the warm milk as you stew quietly, waiting for their laughs to die down. 

“Okay, okay, seriously,” Jisung pipes up after a moment, stifling another giggle. “If you just look at high school…” he glances at you, his mouth quivering into a teasing grin, “she’s only seen guys in tuxedos, like, three times.”

“It was more than three!” You exclaim defensively, placing your mug down before you list off… every single time you’ve seen a boy in a suit.

You can’t believe you’re having this conversation.

“There was junior prom,” you hold up a finger, “senior prom,” you hold up another finger. You hesitate, then add, “the one time I went to homecoming—”

“Hey, that homecoming one doesn’t count!” Jisung protests. “You volunteered for extra credit!”

You groan and throw your hands up in defeat. Okay, maybe it was only three times, but you’d rather do anything else than admit it..

“Then what else is there?!”

Jisung shoots you a challenging look, eyebrows raised as one corner of his mouth threatens to twitch into a smirk. Your exasperated look immediately drops. You know, Jisung knows… and a quick glance at Jeongin tells you he just figured it out.

“Don’t tell me it was the formal?” The taller boy watches you with wide eyes.

“Jeongin!” you whine.

He gasps, a hand slapping over his mouth as he leaps over to smother you. 

“It was!”

His name escapes you once again as you use his shoulder as a way to try and shield yourself from the embarrassment—and him seeing the bright red tint currently burning your cheeks. 

“You thought I was cute when I wore that oversized suit?” he chuckles, letting his arms go around you.

“Shit up,” you continue to whine. 

Jeongin’s deep chuckle basically vibrates through you, it makes the butterflies in your stomach scatter. Your ear tingles when you feel his hot breath brush against it.

“If it's any consolation, you looked really good, too.” 

You smack his chest and turn your head away from him in hopes of him not seeing your blush. It fails miserably. 

“Oh my god, you’re blushing so hard,” Jeongin coos, using his free hand to try and get you to face him again. “Look how cute,” he hums.

With his fingers on your chin, you shut your eyes tightly. There was no way you could look him in the eye and have a rational thought. Not now, not when he was being so open and—dare you say it—flirty with you. 

“You’re so annoying,” you mumble, your eyes still closed. 

On the contrary, you don’t know how much more your heart can take. You don’t even have to open your eyes to know Jeongin is still smirking his ass off. 

“You don’t mean that, right, Miss Tuxedo Effect?” 

Your eyes snap open, your jaw tightening in an attempt to glare at him. He did not just go there. But at this point, with this new cocky attitude, why did it even surprise you he’d stoop so low? 

“You—” Your mind lapses and you’re unable to finish your sentence. 

Jeongin tilts his head slightly, his smile still crooked. “You?” 

Maybe it’s by sheer luck on your part or utter stupidity on Jisung’s, but a small noise makes you both turn and look at the older boy, who has his phone held up at the two of you. 

click.

He backs away slowly, retreating to the living room door. “You'll thank me for these later.” 

Rolling your eyes, you stare at him. “Why? Because the magic snow told you so?” 

Jisung gasps, pointing at you with a glare. 

“It’s not magic snow, it’s fate and I’ve already proved it enough times!” He yaps on. Huffing, he crosses his arms over his chest and his eyes narrow at you. “By the way, Jeongin will have to sleep in your room.” 

You freeze at his statement and feel all the color drain your face. 

“Uh…” you gulp. “Why?” 

“Well you see,” Jisung starts. His eyes flutter around the room, unable to stay on you. “The… the pull-out is broken!” He snaps his fingers before pointing at you. “Yeah, yeah, last time Hyunjin was here, he totally ripped it to shreds, sugarplum.” 

You blink slowly. The last time Hyunjin was here was last month, and Jisung was using the pull-out last week just fine.

“It’s just so broken now,” the older boy continues on his tangent, making a tsk noise and shaking his head. “He said he’d replace it, but he hasn’t yet, so it looks like Jeongin is going to have to bunk with you.” Jisung tries to laugh as he shrugs his shoulders. 

“Uh…” you repeat. 

It’s not that you didn’t want to share your room, let alone your bed, with Jeongin. He’s been your best friend for fifteen years—if there’s any guy on the planet you are comfortable doing that with, it’s him. Not even Heeseung or Yeonjun reached that level with you.

But even though you and Jeongin are attached to the hip, you two were never this close. Especially not when your parents shut down every attempt to stay for Christmas growing up. Why didn’t they just let you two do it? Surely, if they did, this wouldn’t be making your palms sweat as much as they are right now. 

That wasn’t the only issue now, though. Not when he could be moving away any day now, if it weren’t for the blizzard outside. Not when it took you this long to realize what you would give for him to stay.

Not stay for Christmas. Just stay.

“I can sleep on the normal couch,” Jeongin suggests, breaking your train of thought. Jisung feverishly shakes his head. 

“No!” He yells, his eyes wide. “I mean, you can’t, it’s so uncomfortable, you’ll have a bad back. It’s better to share with Y/N!” 

Jeongin’s cocky attitude seems to dissolve in seconds. His smirk melts into a small sheepish smile, the tips of his ears turn pink, and he can barely look you in the eye. 

“Is that okay?” he asks in the smallest voice ever. 

It’s now or never, Y/N. 

“Sure,” you smile. “It’s fine.” 

Jeongin shuffles out of the room, leaving you to glare daggers at the boy who’s gone back to nonchalantly snacking on Felix’s leftover desserts.

“You are so full of shit,” you grumble, feeling the blood rush to your cheeks again.

Jisung just gives you a tilted smile mid-munch.

“Would it help if I said the snow told me to do it?”

You slam your hand on the kitchen island, throwing your head back in despair and frustration. “You’ve lost your mind.”

“I didn’t, the snow did!” Jisung yells after you as you stomp out of the kitchen.

As Jeongin hogs the bathroom and gets ready for bed, you replay your words over and over in your head as you pace back and forth in your room, creating a small draft. ‘It’s fine’?! Are you crazy?! It’s not fine. It’s not fine at all.

Why did you agree to let Jeongin sleep just centimeters away from you? Is it too late to back out and hide in Jisung’s room for the night? If anything, Jisung deserved it for a multitude of reasons, the primary one being his ongoing snow escapades. You don’t know why you didn’t try fighting back on that earlier.

Running a hand through your hair, you heave out a sigh and flick the lights off. You pull your duvet up and shuffle under the covers, bunching the blanket around your chest and letting your arms rest on top of it. A strange feeling swirls in your stomach as you stare up the ceiling, and you truly think about what you just signed up for.

After fourteen years, you’re finally getting that Christmas sleepover you and Jeongin have been joking about since you were ten. Well… the one you’ve been joking about since you were ten. Jeongin started it, then attempted to forget it existed for a while, then he started joking along with you. However, at some point… it didn’t feel like you were joking anymore.

You don’t remember when, specifically—if there even was a specific moment. You just remember that at some point, despite years and years of endless teasing on your part, you genuinely wanted this sleepover. With all the roadblocks you two had endured during your childhood and teen years, though, you thought it’d never happen. 

And now, here you are.

The soft click of the door opening causes you to look up. Light from the hallway floods into the room and Jeongin smiles warmly at you. His hair is fluffy and he still has a few drops of water on his forehead from washing his face. He smooths out his oversized black t-shirt a little as his eyes meet yours, then he looks down and dusts off his gray sweatpants. You can’t help but smile fondly at the sight. 

His smile fades into something more timid as he closes the door behind him and shuffles over to the bed. Before climbing into the covers, he looks at you, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. 

“Is this…” he hesitates, “Are you sure this is oka—”

You chuckle, gently cutting him off. “Just get in the bed, Jeongin.”

A bittersweet feeling cascades over you as he tucks himself under the covers. It’s really happening. Your first Christmas sleepover has finally officially begun, after fourteen years of waiting. Somewhere in the back of your mind, though, you’re plagued with a brutal reminder that this could also be your last Christmas together. Ever.

You feel Jeongin move around a bit, soon settling and facing you. You shift onto your side after a moment, smiling tightly at him before letting your gaze drift out your window.  Snow continues to surge down, and the wind rattles against the glass. If it weren’t for the dim glow of the streetlight outside, you wouldn’t be able to see a thing.

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer,” Jeongin mumbles after a beat. You don’t need more light to know he has a cocky grin on his face.

“I’m not even looking at you, dummy,” you scoff, pointing past his ear and out the window.

He turns his head around, following your finger. Once he lands his eyes on the window, his jaw drops slightly and nods in understanding. “I didn’t think it would snow this hard.”

His voice is soft but gentle, and it makes your heart skip a beat. You force out a chuckle in an attempt to ground yourself. “Should’ve known Jisung would’ve gone mad.”

Jeongin snorts, “He’s long gone, you know this.” He turns around again, the corners of his lips lifting up slightly. “But… at least I get to stay for Christmas.”

You can't help but smile back. “After all these years,” you muse.

“Yeah…”

A beat of silence. “Is this what you imagined it would be?” You ask, your voice quieter.

Jeongin purses his lips together, looking down for a second. “When I was ten? No.”

You both chuckle.

“I thought we’d be knocked out on the couch after eating too many cookies,” Jeongin continues before adding as an afterthought, “Well, after you ate too many cookies.”

You gasp in fake offense, lightly swatting at his chest. “Hey, you were just as bad!”

He scoffs, and another chuckle slips out. It’s like music to your ears.

Then another beat of silence.

“Was this what you imagined it would be?” He repeats your question back to you.

Your eyes meet his as you shake your head. ”No.”

It wasn’t… at least, not until you got older, but he didn’t need to know that.

Feeling some of the tension melt away, you and Jeongin continue to lie down next to each other in a comfortable silence. You aren’t sure how quickly you became accustomed to feeling his body heat seeping into you. In so little time, this image of Jeongin lying next to you, you want it burned inside your mind. The image of his hair so fluffy, you want to reach out and run your hands through it. The silhouette of him under the covers so cozy, you want to throw yourself into his arms.

How it had been a measly fifteen minutes, but this scenario with him… of you two being together… you want it forever.

“Are you okay?” Jeongin’s voice breaks the silence, as well as your train of thought.

You let out a sigh. “I… I guess.”

You can’t help but feel like this is some cruel twist of fate. That maybe the snow isn’t magical or special, but rather cruel and cunning—teasing you by giving you what you’ve always wanted, your stay for Christmas, only to rip it away from you so ruthlessly in a few days. 

All of the words you want to say, that you wish you could say, becomes a bitter pill in your mouth. It leads you to wonder if it was worth spitting it all out, or if you should swallow and shove it down instead. If anything you say in this moment, if you tore your chest open and bore your heart out for Jeongin to see… would it really change anything? 

You already know the answer, but it doesn’t mean you can’t try.

“I…” you start. “I don’t want you to leave.” 

While you were lost in thought, Jeongin had shifted himself so he was laying on his back, staring up at the ceiling. He exhales and you can practically see his breath in the air.

“Honestly?” he sighs. “I don’t either.” 

“Then…” you hesitate. “Then can’t you just stay…” your voice shakes. “…with me?”

It feels weird not asking that he stay for Christmas, but you have that covered right now. You know it won’t last forever if you’re not careful, though, so it’s pointless to try.

So it’s not stay for Christmas, for once in your life. Just stay. 

He rolls over onto his side so he’s facing you and he places his hand ever so near yours. “I wish I could. but hey, we’ll work it out.” He smiles reassuringly. “Just like you said, we can text, we can FaceTime, we can visit…” 

Pushing your lips into a thin line, you nod. “R-Right. Yeah.”

Gently, he grabs your hand in his, rubbing the back of it with his thumb. “We'll make it work. We’re…” He pauses. You can’t pinpoint what in his eyes changes in the dark. “We’re best friends for a reason, remember?”

You sigh. “I… I guess.”

But was there a reason? Sure, you may have asked him if he wanted to be your friend when you first moved to the neighborhood, but you didn’t plan any of this. Nine-year-old you just needed a friend to ease your mother’s worries—you had no way to know what fate had in store for you two when you did get that friend. 

Now Jeongin is way more than a friend to you. More than the awkward boy in an obnoxious purple sweater you met all those years ago. He's, to keep it short, home. And you don’t know if you can handle losing your way home a third time.

Maybe the reason was simply fate, because all of this—it just kind of happened. And now you’re stuck, unsure what to do next… or maybe you do.

You hesitate for one moment, then take a deep breath. 

“But it— it’s more than that.” 

You stare at your entwined hands, watching how Jeongin continues to caress the back of your hand with his thumb. Swallowing your nerves, you look up to catch his eyes.

Here goes nothing.

“Jeongin, I really don’t want this to mess up what we have, but I…” you pause. “I fell for you.” 

You attempt to gauge his reaction. You can’t read the look in his eyes, but somehow, it urges you to keep going.

“I’m sorry this is so sudden,” you start again, your voice shaky, “it’s just— you’re such an important part of my life, you always have been.” You feel your eyes prick with tears. “And even when you were gone, I always found myself wanting to run back to you.”

You pause again, softly biting down on your lip as you struggle to swallow down your pounding heart. You take one more deep breath.

“It’s… it’s always been you, Jeongin.” Your voice cracks, a small whimper escapes your lips. Your eyes continue to well as the floodgates open in your heart, and you look down before you completely break. “I-I can’t lose you again.”

You attempt to blink your tears away, but a few manage to slide down your cheek, seeping into your pillow. Shaking your head, your lower lip quivers, and you choke out a sob.

“Y/N…”

Jeongin slips his hand out of yours and you try your best to calm your breathing. He slowly moves his hand up, gently brushing away a few stray hairs that stick to your face, and you look up at him through glassy eyes. Your vision blurs, but you sense a feeling of longing, an almost-bittersweet swirl of warmth and affection radiating from Jeongin as he gazes down at you.

As he moves to cup your cheek, wiping away a tear with the pad of his thumb, the sound of your pounding heart rings in your ears. The sensation seems to fade into the background when he begins to speak.

“I fell for you, too. I… I have been for years, actually.”

Your breath hitches in your throat at his words. He smiles tenderly at you as you sniffle, wiping away another tear.

“It’s always been you, too, Y/N, and I hate that it took so long to realize it,” he breathes out after another moment. "If anyone should be apologizing here, it’s me.”

“Jeongin…” you mumble, but he shakes his head firmly. 

“I never should’ve left the first time without saying goodbye.” The boy sighs, remorse pooling in his eyes as they meet yours. “It— it hurt so much to think about, but leaving you like that hurt even more.” His gaze drifts down for a moment and he slips his free hand into yours, giving it a gentle squeeze. Smiling lightly, he looks back up at you, his regrets replaced with a newfound conviction. “I’m not letting that happen again.”

A new sensation overwhelms you: one of relief, of euphoria. It fills the empty gaps in your chest, and causes the butterflies in your stomach to take flight. It’s as if you had been stranded at sea for years and finally found land, as if you had one puzzle piece left before everything seamlessly clicked into place. For the first time in years, everything feels right. Jeongin’s gaze, so sugary sweet like honey, makes you crave more.

His smile widens, causing yours to do the same. “I guess we have one more reason we have to make this work, then, right?”

A small giggle escapes you so quickly that you can’t even catch it. Jeongin catches the few tears—tears of happiness this time–that slip from your eyes, before pulling you into his embrace, fully immersing you in his warmth. You hug him back tightly, tucking your head into his shoulder and never wanting to let go.

“I love you, Jeongin,” you whisper.

You feel Jeongin press a light kiss to the top of your head. When he pulls away, he reaches a hand up, gently cradling the back of your head as he brushes his nose against your hair. 

“I love you, too, Y/N.” 

This image of you and Jeongin… all snuggled up, warm and safe in each other’s arms throughout the night... this feels right. This feels like home.

You’re home.

...to 25. (epilogue)

The bitter air churns around you as you step out of Jisung’s car, and you immediately regret not wearing a larger coat instead of just your cardigan. However, before you can pull it closer to you, you feel Jeongin slide his hand into yours, entwining your fingers together. Sighing contentedly, you lean into his shoulder and gaze up at him.

“You okay, there?” He rubs his thumb over the back of your hand. “I know I look dashing, but still.”

You scoff lightly. “‘M just cold, Jeongin.”

Smiling, he turns his head to face you, his breath warm against your ear.

“Okay, but try not to fall too hard for me, Miss Tuxedo Effect.” 

Rolling your eyes, you use your free hand to hit his chest. “Shut up.” 

His chuckles are like heaven in your ears. You want to hear more of it, even if it’s at your own expense. And you knew he was never going to let you live “tuxedo effect” down. Just like Jisung and his “sugarplum” ordeal, this was just another nickname you’d have to put under your belt—not that you minded much, not when you got to hear Jeongin laugh in the way he does. 

Your attention gets brought back to him once you feel him squeeze your hand lightly. Your eyes linger on him and shift to the subtle light shining from your front porch. You notice how stiff he’s gotten, wide eyes staring blankly at your house like a deer in headlights.

“You okay?” you ask quietly, rubbing the back of his hand with your thumb. 

He sighs and hesitantly nods. “Just… nervous.”

You smile. Following the events from last Christmas Eve, Jeongin moved into his new apartment close to his job at the end of January. By the beginning of summer, he and Jisung helped get you a job closer to him so you could move in with your now-boyfriend.

Despite having an extra month together after Christmas, neither of you exactly… broke it to your parents that you two got together. You don’t remember if it just slipped your minds or if you two wanted to surprise them, but either way, they’ll find out in just a few moments. Given your history with the Christmas party and Christmas as a whole, you both agreed there’s no better place to break the news.

Getting up onto your tippy-toes, you place the lightest kiss onto his cheek, but pull away far too quickly in Jeongin’s opinion. “It’ll be okay.” You squeeze his hand. “I’m right next to you.” 

He glances at you, a smile playing at his lips. “Always?” 

You hum, nodding. “Always.” Then you give him a quick once-over and huff, a grimace twisting your mouth. “But do you really need to wear that?”

Jeongin looks down at his outfit, and his smile slowly grows more bashful as he fixes the tie of his tuxedo. Meanwhile, you’re left to painstakingly replay the events from five minutes ago in your mind.

The scene itself mirrored the one from when you were sixteen: Jisung in the driver’s seat, you in the passenger seat, and Jeongin trying desperately hard to get changed in the backseat, Mariah Carey taunting him from the speakers. Every now and then, Jisung tried to push his luck by jolting the car forward. 

It was all way too similar, except this time, there was no sneaking Jeongin out of the house. Also, there was really no need for an emergency tux this time around. Yet, somehow, Jisung still convinced him to put it on.

“I just want to make a good impression,” you hear Jeongin squeak out a moment later. You look back at him and he’s frantically smoothing out his suit jacket, and a light pink blush dusts his cheeks and the tips of his ears. You have to restrain yourself from smothering the boy with kisses at the sight. 

“Babe, you already have a good impression,” you chuckle adoringly, “you grew up here, remember?”

Your boyfriend gazes at you with wide eyes, uncertainty glazing his features. You step closer to him, taking his hand in yours again.

“It’ll be okay,” you repeat, allowing Jeongin to lace your fingers together. “And Jisung did not need to bring the suit with us.”

“But it’s an emergency tux, Y/N,” Jeongin says. “You have to keep it around you in case you need it, it’s in the name!”

“This isn’t even a fancy emergency!”

“But Jisung said it’s a romantic one! That counts!”

You let out a deep sigh, but you can’t be too mad at Jisung for trying to help. “Fine, fine.” You wait a moment then wonder aloud, “Speaking of, when do you think Jisung will get back?” 

Since Jisung still lives in town, he welcomed you both back to his apartment with open arms and, in true Jisung fashion, an excessive amount of babying. He had taken the liberty of not only driving two cities away to pick you two up (he claims he came for a job interview anyway—you don’t not believe him, but you think he also just missed you two), but also dropping you both off at your house before driving off to get coffee.

Jeongin shrugs. “Who knows? He does love his coffee.”

You chuckle fondly. “He’ll catch up later.”

Pulling Jeongin by the hand, you lead the way up the pavement and to the confines of your house. 

Even though it hadn’t been long since you were last here, you missed it dearly. You also missed the way your house was now adorned with Christmas lights. Every year, your dad always seemed to outdo himself with putting up better and better lights. You are sure he had been planning it since last year, that maybe he had already started on next year’s lights, too. 

When you walk through your front door, you’re met with the smell of cinnamon and sugar cookies. There’s light Christmas music in the air and everyone is scattered around, laughing, drinking, and having a merry time. Your mom and dad are nowhere to be seen—you assume they’re in the kitchen somewhere, checking on guests or snacks. You figure you’ll bump into them eventually.

You find countless familiar faces in the sea of people. You see old families that have lived in the neighborhood since before you moved here, families that you have come to view as part of your own. You spot the kids you grew up with; some who are freshly-turned teenagers, and others who have since grown up and started their own lives. You even see Yeonjun, sharing a drink with his girlfriend.

While it was awkward between you at first, you both came to terms with what you had and what you were. You two loved each other, but not in the way that the other wanted or needed. He was a memory, carved into you like stone, but a cherished one that you will hold deep in your heart.

Your eyes meet and you both smile instantly at the sight of each other. His eyes glance back at the boy beside you and you can see how he laughs, his smile growing wider. His eyes meet yours again, he nods his head and you nod yours. 

There’s no need for spoken words. You’re both happy, and you’re both happy the other is happy. Everything you two went through, from your journeys together to your journeys apart, has led you to this moment. 

Ultimate happiness. 

Jeongin pulls your attention back to him, leading you through small groups of people, and you turn back one final time to send Yeonjun a smile. When you look back around to see where Jeongin is guiding you, you see his mom sitting at the dining table, munching away on some snacks on a paper plate. 

She looks up with a bright smile; you’re sure it’s where Jeongin got his from. However, her smile soon melts into confusion at Jeongin’s peculiar outfit. Rising from her seat, she pulls her son into a hug. 

“Hey, sweeties,” she hums, pulling away from Jeongin after a second, keeping her hands on his shoulders as she looks down at his ‘emergency tux’. “Why are you wearing a tux? It’s just the Christmas party.” 

“I told you,” you mumble from beside him. 

He huffs, pulling and lossing the tie around his neck. “I just… it’s dumb.” 

“No, no,” you pout. “You look great, don’t worry about it.” 

Chuckling, Jeongin runs a hand through his hair, his eyes landing on you as he smiles. 

“Of course you’d say that, Miss Tuxedo Effect.” 

Rolling your eyes, you mutter to yourself as Mrs. Yang giggles. 

“Well, for whatever reason you’re wearing it,” Mrs. Yang pinches Jeongin’s cheek causing him to attempt to pull away. “You look very handsome, honey sweet.” 

“T-Thanks, Mom.” 

Pulling on Jeongin’s hand, you fish into your bag, pulling out a pair of black jeans and an almost-obnoxious shade of purple sweatshirt. Dubbing them an ‘emergency change of clothes’, you now know you were right to pack them. 

“You packed spare clothes?” Jeongin asks as you shove them in his hands. 

Humming, you nod your head. “Of course, I knew Jisung would try and fill your head with some foolish idea.” 

“It wasn’t…” You cut him off with a look. He doesn't finish his sentence. 

He puts the jeans over his arm, pulling the sweatshirt out to see. You almost fail to notice the way the tips of his ears, once again, turn pink as he smiles. 

“I thought you hated this color,” he laughs. 

Pushing him forward and in the direction of the stairs, you concede. “Eh, it grew on me. Now please change.” 

Jeongin continues to laugh as he struggles against you. “I’m going, I’m going!” 

When he comes down a mere five minutes later, the now-discarded tux in his hands, you can tell he’s far more comfortable than before. He leaves it on the couch and takes his place beside you once again, slipping his hand into yours. This time, you take the initiative to thread your fingers together.

A gasp leaves Mrs. Yang’s parted lips when she notes the way her son beams down at you. A warm glow seems to encircle him, and you can almost count the specks in his sparkly eyes when you look up. There’s nothing but affection swimming in his loved-up smile—just pure endearment for you.

“Did you two?” She watches you two with wide eyes. 

You and Jeongin suddenly look away from each other. Bashfully, you let your gaze fall to the floor, and you feel a tinge of red tickle your ears, but you don’t bother to let his hand go.

He doesn’t, either. He just squeezes your hand lightly as he nods, letting out a shy giggle.

Mrs. Yang gasps again, her hands flying over her mouth. Like mother, like son.

“You did!”

Without warning, she springs up from her chair. “Oh, I have to go find your father, now!” she gushes, pulling Jeongin into a bone-crushing hug. When she lets go of your startled boyfriend, she turns to you, squeezing you tight. “And your parents, too!”

You let out an embarrassed chuckle as you hug her back. When you both part, Mrs. Yang turns on her heel and scurries to the kitchen. 

Jeongin snaps his head towards you as his mother’s figure disappears into the crowd. His lips twitch up to an amused grin—it only grows wider when you match his expression. 

You shake your head to yourself, leaning your forehead against his shoulder. You feel Jeongin’s hand snake around your back, and you let out an exasperated sigh as he pulls you into his own hug.

“Parents, am I right?” he comments. His other arm hooks snugly around your waist, bringing you in closer. You shake your head into the crook of his neck as your own arms go around the boy.

“If that’s how your mom reacts, imagine what mine’s gonna do,” you mumble into his skin.

For better or worse, you’re quickly proven right.

“Ohhh, look how cute!”

You know exactly what happens next without even moving your head. Your mother, amidst her endless gushing about how she’s been “waiting for this day for years!”, scrambles to pull her phone out of her pocket, making a beeline straight for the camera app. Her mouth is probably gaping up and down like a fish, and she’s most definitely shuffling around the crowded space for the best angle. If your and Jeongin’s fathers were dragged along, they do nothing to stop her (not that they could to begin with, but still).

You don’t need to look up to know, and you don’t want to. You’d much rather her not see how red your face is, anyway.

“Okay, don’t move!” your mother orders. “One, two…”

“Mom!” you whine, burrowing yourself further into Jeongin’s sweater.

As your mother fulfills her need for pictures, Jeongin’s giggles ring in your ears. You try to focus on that to will your embarrassment away.

“Are you done yet, Mom?” you speak after a moment. A pout forms on your lips when she tuts.

“Uh uh, I need more!”

“You don’t have enough yet?!”

“There’s never enough photos!” A hearty, teasing laugh leaves her throat, chiming over the music for a second. “You know this, sugarplum.”

“Wait, so that’s why Jisung calls you ‘sugarplum’?!” Jeongin questions. He almost pulls back to get a better look at you, but you grip onto him tighter before he has the chance.

“Yes, and that’s my sugarplum!” Another familiar voice cries out.

Stepping back from Jeongin, you turn to see Jisung standing there with a childish frown on his face. He holds a take-out cup in one hand, and lets go of a girl’s hand to point at Jeongin with the other.

Wait… who’s the girl? You’ll have to get back to that.

“You’re her boyfriend, call her ‘baby’ or ‘boo-boo’ or something,” he adds, exaggerating his pout. “I claimed ‘sugarplum’ years ago!”

You roll your eyes. Technically, your mother claimed it first, but you know she’ll let Jisung go.

“Please don’t call me ‘boo-boo’,” you say, blankly staring up at Jeongin. Instead of responding, he reaches a hand up to pinch your cheek.

“Aww, is someone blushing?” he coos.

You push his hand away with a whine, earning a giggle from him and both of your moms. “Not you, too!” 

The girl next to Jisung leans over to him and whispers something in his ear. You aren’t sure what, but the boy responds to her with an “I told youuu,” a whimsical ring to his voice.

Jeongin glances at the girl, then at you, his face twisted in bewilderment. All you can respond with is a shrug.

“Ah,” Jisung pipes up, sensing your confusion, and he gestures to the brunette next to him. “This is Lia.”

She gives you all a small wave, quickly looking down and smoothing her maroon sweater with one hand. You all exchange greetings back, and Jisung continues, a sheepish smile on his face.

“We met during college, and, uh, I ran into her at the cafe just now.” The older boy scratches at the back of his neck, and a rosy glow rises to his cheeks. “She told me she just moved here, actually, and I figured I’d show her around… make her feel at home, you know?”

A warm smile paints your lips. You think of when you first moved here, how the community welcomed you and your family with open arms. Even if your grumpy nine-year-old self didn’t appreciate it, your twenty-five-year-old self couldn’t be more grateful. “You’re gonna love it here,” you say to Lia.

Lia smiles back, and she seems to relax at your words. “Thank you.”

“Oh, aaaand,” Jisung cuts in again after a moment. He tenderly takes Lia’s hand in his, sending her a bubbly, heart-eyed grin as he swings their hands between them.

“Do you really have to open with this?” Lia says softly.

“Yes, I do!” Jisung squeaks, his voice jumping higher than normal. “They’ll get it, trust me!”

He glances hopefully at you and Jeongin, his eyes wide and bright. The two of you exchange confused looks with each other. What could he be talking about?

A second later, it clicks. Why else would Jisung be hopping up and down so eagerly, about ready to jump out of his hoodie any minute now?

“Don’t tell me you met during—” you begin.

“During the first snow!” Jisung finishes your sentence in a singsong. He tapers off with a dreamy sigh, and his eyes seem to sparkle more when they land back on an embarrassed Lia.

“He just means the second time around,” she clarifies with an awkward cough. “The first time was during spring.”

Your first instinct is to roll your eyes at your friend’s ongoing infatuation with the snow, but a fond chuckle takes its place. You had stayed up many nights talking with Jisung when you lived with him, the two of you sprawled out like starfish on your kitchen floor as you shared thoughts about the future, the simultaneous excitement and uncertainty of it all. If there was one thing Jisung was firm on, it was his hope that he’d meet The One during the first snow of winter, that the twinkling little snowflakes would be his guiding star to his person.

“Love at first snow,” was what he called it, “…you know, like you and Jeongin.” As much as you found the phrase irritating at the time, you never bothered to correct him.

But of course, it’s one thing to have hopeless romantic fantasies, and another to have them come to life. It’s kind of endearing, maybe heartwarming in a weird little-sister-figure way, to observe Jisung’s increasingly lovestruck daze as he relives the recent memory—you can practically see the hearts dancing around his head. But that’s not the point right now.

So this is the girl Jisung always texted you about during college.

You recall countless conversations about how pretty and smart and sweet she was, and even more of him blowing up your phone at three in the morning for date ideas (“the more aesthetic, the better! :D”). Even though he successfully asked her out, he still never let it go that they never saw the first snow together before they broke up.

Despite her embarrassment, Lia seems to mirror Jisung’s loved-up smile. From what he told you, they parted ways on good terms—something about both of them graduating soon and having different mindsets, he said, but they both agreed to stay friends. But something tells you that, even after all this time, they’re still on the same page about the first snow… and maybe some other matters, too.

You can see it in their eyes: the feverish look that makes their irises shimmer as they gaze at each other, the almost-overwhelming amount of affection that swims in their pupils and makes the corners of their lips twist up. You recognize it all too well—it’s the exact same way you used to look at Jeongin. Every once in a while, you still catch yourself doing it.

It’s nothing but fate, at this point, when you notice faint white pellets of snow are still hitting the window in your peripheral. An overjoyed smile of your own quickly overtakes your features, and when you look up at Jeongin, it seems like he’s thinking the same thing as you.

With an infectious giggle, Jeongin grabs your hand, but you sharply turn to Jisung and Lia before he can pull you away. Your boyfriend's small whines fall on deaf ears, and he childishly tugs at your hand as you try to get the lovebirds’ attention.

“Hey, do you wanna go see the magic snow or not?” you call out, half-teasingly and half-genuinely.

In a snap, Jisung’s lovesick daze flips into a triumphant smile as he turns to you. “So you admit it’s magic?!”

You roll your eyes, giving Jeongin’s hand a quick squeeze to calm his impatience. “I needed to get your attention somehow,” you say, “but just this once, I’ll admit it.” 

The way your friend seems to light up like a Christmas tree is enough to make you give in. You do owe him for his stunt last year, after all—you’re more than happy to let him have this one.

“Now, do you want to go see the snow or not?” you ask after another moment, a small smile etched on your lips.

“Of course I want to see the snow!” Jisung chirps.

As he looks to Lia for her response, his puppy-love daze making a return, you allow yourself to take in your surroundings. The warmth teeming around you from the Christmas party is one that never gets old, no matter how many times you come, and no matter how long you’re gone. It brings a wave of peace to your heart, even as a couple of screaming children run a lap around you and your friends.

Your chipper boyfriend begins to pull you to the front door with him, making you lose your step for a second, and you find yourself meeting Yeonjun’s eyes from across the house one more time. Before you lose sight of him, you nod to the window several feet away from him, sending him a wink to him before you turn around. Even if you weren’t meant to be his love at first snow, the least you can do is make sure he got his.

By the time you look away, Jeongin has already pulled you both to the front door, Jisung and Lia already dressed and waiting for you two. Hastily, he throws on his coat before he scrambles through the pile of shoes by the doormat to find his own pair.

You’re about to do the same, then you realize…

“Right, I forgot my—”

“Your jacket?” Jisung calls out. Without another word, he digs into his backpack and tosses you the coat you left behind at his apartment earlier. You slip it on with a relieved smile, mouthing a ‘thank you’ before getting your shoes on and swinging the door open for all four of you.

Soft, puffy snowflakes dot the ground around you as you begin your stroll down the sidewalk. You hear Jisung and Lia’s musings behind you, but they fade into a quiet buzz as all the memories from your childhood flash before your eyes. The houses you pass by are ones you used to see everyday on the way home from school, and the sidewalks are ones you used to run around on during the weekends. You never would’ve thought you’d be back now, reliving it all with the people you love most.

It gets even better, though, when Jeongin nudges your shoulder, and points to a grassy area coming up ahead. You follow his finger and gasp, immediately recognizing the spot.

Reaching for his hand, you break into a sprint and pull the boy with you to the neighborhood park, the two of you almost tripping due to the slippery snow. The park is almost the exact same as it was when you first moved. Some parts had been upgraded over time, whereas others still seemed heavily used and loved by the younger children around the neighborhood.

Your eyes glaze around the small park and you could almost see a vision of nine-year-old you, standing near your mother as she pushes you to speak to the other children—to make some new friends. You could practically see nine-year-old Jeongin hanging upside-down from the monkey bars, adorned in that now less-obnoxious purple sweater. 

You wonder what nine-year-old you would think if she saw where you are now, with Jeongin’s hand wrapped tightly around your own. You wonder what she’d have to say about the way your cheeks tickled pink, not only from the cold, but also from the way Jeongin’s gaze lingered on you for a moment too long, and the way his lips tugged into a soft smile whenever you looked back at him.

Tugging lightly on Jeongin’s hand, you lead the both of you over towards the monkey bars, his whines falling on deaf ears as you drop his hand from your grasp to climb up the metal bars. Once you’re sat down in the most comfortable position you can, the cold metal sending shivers down your spine, you beckon Jeongin to join you. 

“Sit with me.” You smile down at him, one hand keeping you steady as the other makes grabby hands in Jeongin’s direction. 

Jeongin huffs. “But it’s so cold.” 

However, his words fall short when he still begrudgingly makes the small climb up. He lets his legs dangle through the holes, his knees knocking against your own lightly. 

A gust of cold air causes you to shiver and as a response, you pull your coat closer to you. This seems to make Jeongin chuckle fondly, and you feel his eyes linger on you for a second before he looks out at the horizon. The falling snowflakes glisten under the remnants of the sunlight, and the holiday lights emit a breathtaking glow. You’re both still not tall enough to see much above the houses in front of you, but that’s okay—you know what lies beyond it.

“You know, I never thought we’d be back here,” you mumble. A giggle escapes you as you watch the stars slowly make their appearance above you.

Jeongin has a giggle of his own as something on the monkey bars catches his eye. “I can’t believe it’s still here,” he continues to laugh, causing you to redirect your gaze. 

“What do you mean?” 

He runs his fingers lightly over the faded black ink scrawled across the top of the monkey bars. 

Y/N and Jeongin, 2010.

“No way,” you gasp, trying your best to lean over to see it better without falling. “I thought they replaced the park equipment years ago.” 

Looking up at you, Jeongin smiles. “Obviously not all of it.” 

He fishes around in his pocket for a second and before you can question anything, he pulls out a black marker pen and unclips the lid. 

“What are you–” 

Your sentence goes unfinished, however, when he leans over and adds a small section under his own nine-year-old handwriting. 

And forevermore.

Your heartstrings are played like a violin as you watch Jeongin cap the pen back up, a pleased smile etched on his lips. When he finally comes back to reality, noticing your gaze, he shrugs. 

“What?” he says. “Had to add it and make it official.” 

“We’ve been official for a year, I don’t think the monkey bars would mind.” 

Jeongin rolls his eyes, a chuckle escaping him. “What if some kids read it? Surely, they’ll love to know the story has a happy ending?” 

If you weren’t afraid of falling, you would have jumped on him, showering his face in the most kisses possible. However, for both his and your safety, you opt for words instead.

“I love you,” you breathe, beaming at him. You’ve never said anything more true in your life. 

His smile mirrors your own. “I love you too.” 

You look back at the sky as Jeongin shoves his pen and hands back in his pockets, the dopey grin on your face growing wider, if that was even possible. Another giggle escapes you when you feel a drop of snow hit your nose. This is everything to you—it’s ultimate happiness.

But there’s one thing missing.

“I can’t believe I forgot,” you say, your gaze falling back down. 

Raising an eyebrow, he looks at you in curiosity. “Yeah?” he responds, and you stare back with a cheeky smile.

“Stay for Christmas?”

Jeongin shakes his head, but his giggles still fill your ears, sending your heart into shockwaves of emotions, like the ripples after a stone hitting the water. The tips of his ears as well as his cheeks glow pink under the streetlight that has just flicked on. You can’t tell if it’s from the cold or from you, but you wish for it to be the latter. 

“You know you don’t have to say that anymore, right?” Jeongin asks, gazing at you with a look that makes it hard to catch a breath. 

“I know,” you exhale, “but it’s basically tradition now, it’s a must.”

“Well, tradition or not…” Jeongin begins. He slips his hand from out of his pocket to grab and entwine your fingers with his own. His heat seeps into you as he runs his thumb over the back of your hand. “…I’m here to stay.” 

He uses his other hand to tap lightly on the recently-added handwriting, his words echoing around in your ears. “Forevermore.” 

Your eyes are all soft and sparkly as you smile at him, giving his hand a squeeze before letting the air around you fall silent. A contented sigh escapes your parted lips, forming a faint puff in the cold air as you watch the fluffy, white crystals above you flutter down.

Jeongin started off as a mere stranger, nothing but the awkward boy in an ugly sweater. Sixteen years later, he’s sitting with you atop the same monkey bars upon which you two met as so much more. He’s your best friend, your childhood playmate, your built-in Mario Kart partner. He’s your teenage crush, your love at first snow, your stay for Christmas—and all that only you two know it entails.

Perhaps, most important of all, Jeongin is home. And as long as you have Jeongin, you’ll always know your way back.

#straykidsland #stray kids #skz #stray kids fluff #stray kids au #stray kids written #stray kids fic #stray kids x reader #stray kids imagine #skz fic #skz scenarios #skz x reader #skz imagine #skz imagines #jeongin #yang jeongin #jeongin x reader #jeongin fluff #jeongin angst #jeongin fanfic #jeongin imagine #jeongin x y/n #skz i.n

[nodirectionhome-ao3]

Maybe it wasn’t the best idea for me to read your latest chapter of KSFM while on my lunch break at work (earlier this morning at 2:00am, mind you) 😭 but I’ve heard that Angst is the new Fluff so… I’ll let you continue taking me on this emotional rollercoaster. This story is really fascinating and I love the way you write Lily, especially this moment(I hope I don’t spoil this for anyone who hasn’t read it yet):

It was too much to imagine. Too much to bear. He’d wanted her — needed her — and she’d just…slept.

“He stopped wanting to visit,” Arthur went on, “just before his fourth year. He just wanted a break from seeing you that way, I think. -KSFM ch 30

😩 😩 😞 😔 😞 even before this, when Lily told Arthur he’s a guest and when he replied that he enjoys washing the plates the Muggle way, is very kind/sweet. I had a sense that during this mundane task something would be revealed and yup I was correct. Knowing that Harry didn’t want to visit her while she was in a coma is just so painful. You really captured the emotions from both Arthur and Lily in this little scene. It makes me wonder if there’s something that inspired you to have this moment between those two characters.

Plus the little scene where Lily is talking to Neville about wanting to sit down and tell him stories and everything he wanted to know about his parents felt as if you sent a crucio to my heart 🥹🥹 that was so sweet and heartbreaking 💔 i feel as Lily in that moment realized how hurt this boy was at the moment and in a sense sees a bit of her own son in him. Both boys robbed from parents that love them all because of an act of evil, even though Neville grew up better than Harry it doesn’t take away the pain he felt/feels. There’s not many scenes/fics that capture Neville and I’m glad you touched upon this topic. It’s really fitting of Lily’s character, the compassion and understanding is just ❤️

Nena!!!! You absolute ANGEL! Thank you for this!!!

I'm so so happy you enjoyed this chapter! (And that you're enjoying Lily and the fic overall!) Thank you for sharing these thoughts with me!🫶

I'm thrilled that you liked the Arthur scene!! I've actually had it written for so long. I think I originally wrote it for chapter 25? But then ended up delaying it because it didn't feel like it fit there. I've definitely been wanting Lily to bond with Arthur for some time now. It's important to the overall story that she does (for reasons I can't discuss without spoilers so I'll leave it at that 😉). I guess the main inspiration for that conversation though is just that I love Arthur Weasley (SUCH a criminally underrated character in my opinion) and I want to develop his relationship with the Potters.

One of the major themes I think about when writing KSFM is Harry's longing for a father figure. He had Hagrid, early on, and now of course he has Sirius too. (And Sirius, being the amazing godfather that he is, has become the main one.) But I've always seen Arthur as a father figure to Harry too. Harry clearly admires and respects him so much in canon. And, while it's explicitly stated and often clearly shown that Molly loves Harry like she's his own, I've always believed Arthur does too. He certainly isn't as close to Harry as Sirius is, but he's known him longer (in Harry's memory at least) and has more first-hand experience with how Harry was coping with Lily being in a coma. So I feel he has a very interesting perspective to share about the growth that he's witnessed in Harry and the developing bond he's observed between Harry and Lily.

As for Lily, she definitely feels a bit (understandably) lost when it comes to parenting a teenager, so I think she craves parenting mentors and I like that she finds that in both of the Weasley parents! (Although they're certainly not perfect, as nobody is.) As we go forward, I also have plans to develop Lily's backstory more...and, without saying too much right now...you may find that Harry isn't the only person who craves a father figure...

ANYWAY. Sorry. That was such a long, rambling answer to your question😂😂 But the gist of it is that I just love finding ways to further develop the bond between the Potter and Weasley families!

As for your comment about the Neville scene – I'm so happy you like that part! It might have been my favorite scene to write in this :) You've articulated my own thoughts on it so well here!! I definitely agree that Lily sees some of Harry in Neville. (just like she sees herself in Rose in this chapter, but that's another discussion lol). I also think she feels naturally protective of Neville because she knew him as a baby and he's Alice's son...who I've decided was something of a mentor/older sister figure to Lily. (Someone who was like a good older sister...unlike the older sister Lily actually has😬). I'm always interested in the parallels between the Longbottoms and the Potters, and I'm definitely looking forward to bringing Neville into this fic more going forward! He's such a sweetheart and a character who deserves so much better than he's been treated!

Lily's compassion is so important to me! It's so vital to her character and I definitely am trying to show that she has so much love to give. And more people than Harry will benefit immensely from her being alive in this story🫶 (I love the idea of her being a mentor to her students, an Aunt-figure to Neville, and an actual Aunt to Dudley, a sisterly figure to Tonks, and a sort-of-daughter-figure to Arthur & Molly in addition to being Harry's mom and Sirius & Remus's friend.)

Thanks again for your kind words about KSFM and for this lovely, lovely ask!!! (And thanks for reading this whole answer, sorry that it got so long I just LOVE talking about this fic and Lily in general!!!)❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

#kindly stopped for me #chapter 30 #ksfm spoilers

[deduction-substitute]

I used to be so scared of playing the hunter but now Im kind of realizing that Im BETTER playing as a hunter 😭

Anyways, Lucky not having birthday letters so the residents of the manor resolve to make ones for him :3

The letters are sent for the recipients to have something they can hold onto from their past, even if said letters could hold negative contents. It's also a way to keep track of the time/lh

Imagine them finding out that Lucky's NEVER had one before. He's been estimating his age (and he's actually correct!) as well as how much time has passed himself

But they don't really...know what to write for him. They obviously can't write about his past, and no one is really that close to him to figure out how to write a letter from the heart

Just when they're about to give up, someone accidentally finds a box of letters after sliding on a creaky floorboard (Kreacher)(he was sneaking through Lucky's room for the "purpose" of figuring out what to get him for his birthday). All of these letters seem to be addressed to Lucky, 3 letters from 3 different people.

The first set of letters are short and straight to the point. They're very blunt too. A quick happy birthday, some thanks, and penned off with a signature. The ink is smudged, making it illegible, and the person's handwriting barely passes as legible. But there's obvious care put into each stroke.

"It was hard getting those berries for your cake with ___ hovering over my shoulder. Did that crazy woman think that I was going to poison them? I didn't! You better be thankful."

The second set is full of teasing and lighthearted jokes. There's not much written, but it's longer than the first. It seems that it was written in a rush, unrecognizable stains littering the paper all over. This time, there's no name.

"I left a box in front of your door by the way! I still don't understand why you like them. ___ has a big surprise for you too. He's been worrying over it for ages, but don't tell him I spoiled it for you!"

The third set is more intimate. Personal. It's obvious that the writer knows Lucky Guy on a deeper level compared to the other two. It's longer, constantly losing track of the subject before finally going back to their original point.

"After the match tomorrow, let's go on a walk together, just you and I! I planned something very special for you."

It's marked with fresh tears.

Needless to say, they don't stick to just making a letter.

#actually i have this very prominent vision regarding the letters #MAYBE...ILL WRITE THIS... #identity v #idv lucky guy #idv #identity 5 #lucky guy #idv lucky #identity v lucky guy #my ideas!

[seducemefanficsandheadcanons]

since you were begging for asks earlier, heres a curious one. let's say Seduce Me gets remade with updated art and updated writing, etc etc. if there was one thing you'd want changed and/or added, what would it be? and while we're at it, is there anything specific you'd want to stay as is?

Oooooh I like this one!!! I love the game, but there are definitely things I wish were done differently. (Other than the obvious like typos and glitches)

It's kind of long, but here you go:)

I personally really enjoyed the art, but I do wish the boys sprites had gold eyes when enthralling MC. I think it would have been a nice detail.

I would love to see the backstories fleshed out more. Michaela Laws said that things in Damiens backstory for example, that she didn't include (how much worse can it get😭) I think it would be really nice to get more details for the boys and the grandfather's background.

I'd like the story to be longer, like more individual scenes with each incubus before the big confession. I enjoy a fast burn but DAMN.

And more scenes with all of them. I love the brother's dynamics, and I wish we saw more of them together.

Maybe an ending where she let them stay without dating them. It doesn't necessarily have to be a poly ending (though I think many people including myself would enjoy) but they all become MC's found family.

Option for a male or gender-neutral MC.

More Malix in general. He is an incredible character who adds so much to the game, and his VA is uber talented. I saw on Michaela's Tumblr that she originally planned for Malix to attempt to burn down the mansion, and this would be so freaking cool! I wish we would have gotten this.

Less copy and paste, which I feel is a given.

I'd really like it to be NSFW if I'm being honest. Like, the sex scenes don't even have to be voiced (Though no one would complain if they wereeee) but like the writing aspect of it would be really nice.

I think MC's grief should be explored more. I discussed this with someone recently about Mika sleeping in her grandfather's room right after his passing, and I feel like maybe her grief was almost skipped over.

I think it would be nice to see MC being a college student rather than high school, but being as the second game is already made and has an established age, this probably wouldn't be possible.

More discussion of magic, and MC's ability to use magic.

Things I'd like to stay:))

First and foremost, VOICE ACTORS!!! I cannot stress enough how much I appreciate the VA talent in the game. I genuinely can't see another actor playing any of the incubi, Malix or Diana.

I really enjoy MC being a bit snarky and tough, but not so brave that it becomes unrealistic. Like she isn't Oh My GaWd ThErE aRe HoT gUyS but she also isn't like "I can do this easy and could fight this on my own!" because she knows it isn't easy and does recieve help from them.

Simon tabby. I don't feel I need to elaborate this.

The original scenes where MC gives her chosen incubus energy. Like, I'd like them to be more unique to the incubus BUT I don't think locations should change, and the art could still be similar to the last time.

I like how Diana comes across as a villain in the first game, and I don't think she should be changed. The second game was her redemption ark and changing her in a rewrite would make it less...redemptiony.

MC fighting Lissete. Favorite part of the game. (Though, I do think MC should have gotten like, suspended at the very least.)

I might think of more, but these were the ones I could think of right now. Thanks for the ask!

#seduce me the otome #seducemeotome #seducemetheotome #smto #seduceme #seduce me otome