#I wonder if season 3's coming soon too

[horangare]

omggg please do a part 2 to the dilf jeonghan fic

tis the season

pairing : dilf!jeonghan x college student!reader

content : smut (mdni u already know)

in which : it’s time for christmas break, and iseul is asking you to buy some time with her father so she can finish her last minute shopping. you’ve been meaning to spend some one on one time with her dad, and now you finally can

warnings : age gap (late 40’s jeonghan, early 20’s reader), daddy kink (i’m sorry but it’s also like barely there), pet names (princess, baby, good girl, slut, whore, sir), dom & sub dynamics, dumbification, teasing (dirty talk, degradation, praise), mentions of multiple orgasms, fingering, finger sucking, lingerie kink (kinda? i think?), u two want each other so bad, iseul (yeah she’s a warning in this one lol), hannie’s kinda mean but u like it

wc : 3.3K words

note : i was wondering how long it would be before someone requested this. srry it took so long omg i had no idea what i wanted to do w this i literally had like 3 diff ideas

part 1

By now, the Yoon household had become like a second home to you.

Even though it was just Iseul, Jeonghan, and that big maze of a house, it didn’t ever feel like anything was missing. Since Iseul brought you over the first time, things hardly ever changed. You’d still slept in Iseul’s room whenever you slept over (until Jeonghan made one of the guest rooms into a room for you, then the two of you both started having your sleepovers there), you still took a wrong turn trying to find the bathroom and ended up in the kitchen or the laundry room, and you still ended up bent over on a new surface somewhere in the house while Jeonghan had his way with you.

It was a comfortable routine. One you were upset would have to abandon for the next three weeks to drag yourself back to your dull little hometown to spend time with your family and a handful of other relatives who’s names you couldn’t remember even if you tried.

“You know you could just come stay with us,” Iseul said offhandedly one day when you mentioned how much you were dreading on returning home. The suggestion hadn’t held that much meaning when Iseul gave it, she already knew just how much you enjoyed coming over, but in that moment she had become your saving grace.

“Really? You mean it?” The girl just nodded, jumping in surprise when you pulled her into a hug and spun her around. “What would I do without you, Iseul?”

“Wow, it’s that bad, huh?” She laughed, patting you on the shoulder once you had placed her back on the ground.

“Oh please, you have no idea.”

You rode in Iseul’s car for the first time the next day. When she asked how you were planning to get there and you mentioned the countless number of times you’ve Ubered back and forth to her house, she nearly started crying and promised to drive you anywhere you wanted from now on. “Do you know how much money that adds up to? No more Ubers!”

So now here you were, in the passengers seat of Iseul’s white Honda Accord, gripping onto the handle above the door as Iseul sped down the roads with the most stoic look on her face you think you’ve ever seen. The Ubers may have been expensive, but at least they were safe. It confused you a little; you had ridden in the car with Jeonghan at the wheel before and never had an experience like this. Clearly Iseul hadn’t inherited those skills from him, but right now you were wishing she had.

“Are you alright?” She looked over at you when the car finally came to a stop at a red light. You nodded, one of your hands flat against your chest as you felt your heart threatening to beat right out of your ribcage. Iseul smiled, either ignoring the panic you were trying to hide or not picking up on it at all as she sped off as soon as the light had turned green. “We’re gonna take a shortcut, there’s way too much traffic right now and—shit!” The car lurched to a halt, both you and Iseul’s bodies jerking forward with the sheer force of the stop. “Oops, I almost hit the curb.”

You really needed your own car.

After spending the next eight minutes in Iseul’s death trap car, you pretty much threw yourself out of the seat when you saw that she was pulling into the garage to the side of the house. You considered kissing the ground, but you didn’t. Your sister was a worse driver.

“Dad, we’re home,” Iseul shouted into the warm interior of the house. There was no immediate verbal response from Jeonghan, he just snaked his way through the hallways of the space with a mug in his hands and a smile on his face.

“Hi, Seulie,” He hummed, letting his eyes wander over to you. “Hello, [Y/n].”

“Hi, Mr. Yoon.”

“How was the drive? Was there a lot of traffic?” Jeonghan had already started retreating back to the living room, you and Iseul followed, seating yourselves next to each other on the couch.

“It was fine. The traffic wasn’t so bad, everyone’s probably going to the airport.” Iseul hummed. She turned her head in your direction. “Dad’s happy you’re staying over. He pretends like he’s calm about it, but he giggled when I called him and told him earlier.”

Your body flushed with heat at your friend’s casual comment, your eyes flitting over to Jeonghan, who was staring down into his mug. The two of you haven’t gotten to spend much time together for a while since you were usually coming over to spend time with Iseul lately. He missed you.

“We’ll have the next three weeks to spend together, sir.” You smiled, finally getting him to look back at you. One of his eyebrows quirked upwards—he was expecting to keep that promise, but he wouldn’t say it. He would just expect you to act on it.

And you would.

You hadn’t acted on it.

A week into staying with Iseul and Jeonghan, you had spent almost every waking moment of your time with your friend. Baking cookies, decorating the house, watching Christmas movies, going ice skating for the first time in your life (and having Iseul laugh at you until she cried when you ate shit on the ice over and over again), and a plethora of other festive events. You had been having such a good time with her, the promise you made to Jeonghan had let itself slip from your mind. The most the two of you could do was kiss for a few seconds before Iseul came popping up from around a corner or shouting your name to the house in hopes of a response. She was his daughter, and you were her friend, but he was losing his patience. All he wanted was some time to have you all to himself.

Maybe today he would finally get the chance.

Monday morning greeted you with a six am phone call from Iseul, which you answered, your mind and voice still riddled with sleep. “Hello?”

“So sorry to call you so early, but I am totally gonna make it up to you.”

“Iseul, what—”

“Look, I have to finish shopping for presents. I don’t know when I’ll be done, there’s kind of a lot on my list,” She explained, and you thought she was joking. It was just her, you, and Jeonghan. How long could the list possibly be? “Anyway, I just wanted to let you know where I was. Something else…oh! Maybe spend some time with dad while I’m away. He gets lonely, y’know. Okay, that’s all, bye!” Iseul hung up the phone before you could even process everything she had said, leaving you staring at the device in your hand dumbfounded.

“Okay.” You sighed, dragging yourself out of bed and to the bathroom (the one connected to your new room, because you were sick and tired of almost pissing yourself because you walked into the study instead) to freshen up.

Finally, you thought. Finally you’d have private time to spend, just you and Jeonghan. The time you spend with Iseul was precious to you, obviously, the girl was your best friend. But if you said the reason you had wanted to come over was just to avoid your family and bond with Iseul, you’d have been lying. You smiled to yourself, wondering what the two of you would do, and you squeezed your thighs together if it would be anything like you had come to finish your midterm project.

You jumped at the sound of the door opening and peeked your head out of the bathroom, your body relaxing when you saw Jeonghan standing in the doorway, his hands behind his back. You sighed with relief, bending over slightly to spit out the toothpaste in your mouth and wiping your mouth.

“Do you and Iseul always wake up so early?” You asked him as he got closer. He shook his head.

“It’s usually just me that’s up at this time.” He mumbled. “Where is she, anyway?”

“Last minute shopping.” You said, finally turning your body to face his. His hands were still behind his back, and Jeonghan smirked when you tried to peek at what he was hiding. “What is that?”

“What, this?” He shrugged. “Oh nothing. Just something I picked up one day. It’s supposed to be your present, but I guess it wouldn’t hurt to give it to you now, hm?”

You gasped, your heart swelling with the knowledge that Jeonghan had gone out and gotten something for you. Both of his eyebrows shot up at the excitement creeping onto your face and he quickly turned away from you.

“Or maybe I should just wait until Christmas. You wouldn’t mind, would you? I’m sure the presents Seulie got for you will be better than this.” Still smirking, Jeonghan started to walk away but stopped in place when you pulled on his arm.

“No! I’m sorry sir, really am.” You pouted, reaching to try and take the present from Jeonghan, but he easily held it just out of your reach. “Iseul will be gone for a while. It’s…just the two of us.”

Jeonghan groaned at that. He loved his daughter, but he’d gone too long without getting to have you all to himself. Turning back around, Jeonghan placed the gift in your hands. “Alright, princess. Just one condition before you open this.”

“Anything for you, sir.” You but your lip in anticipation, eagerly awaiting the response he would give you. Jeonghan leaned down, his lips brushing against the shell of your ear.

“You have to do anything I say, got that?” You exhaled shakily, but you still nodded, and Jeonghan cupped your face, swiping his thumb along your bottom lip.

“Good girl,” he murmured, pressing a chaste kiss to your lips. He tasted good, sweet, like hot chocolate. That’s probably what he’s been drinking in that mug everyday. When he pulled away, you whined, much to Jeonghan’s delight. “I’m not going anywhere. Go on, open your present.”

You smiled, giving your full attention to the neatly wrapped box in your hands, gently untying the silver ribbon holding it together and lifting the top of the box up. You gasped. Lingerie. Jeonghan got you lingerie. “S-sir, I…”

“Put it on for me. Right here.”

Stunned into silence by his abrupt request, your clothing was thrown to the ground with haste. Jeonghan watched you the entire time from his seat on the edge of your bed, drinking in the way you would fidget and avoid making eye contact with him. Yeah, you were a little nervous. He’s never asked you to strip for him, usually he would just rip off your clothes to avoid wasting any time. He really seemed to be enjoying the fact that Iseul was away.

“It’s pretty, sir.” You whispered, tracing your fingers over the delicate lace now adorning your skin. It was white with pale pink detailing, and the bra piece had mesh slips that went all the way around your upper body. The bottom piece was a thong with a slit at the crotch. Oh, and one more tiny little detail. It was almost entirely see through. “Did you have to get something with one of these…holes?”

Jeonghan nodded, pulling you into his lap, your back flush against his chest. “Makes things easier,” he said, trailing his fingers up your inner thigh. You exhaled shakily at the feeling of them circling around your wet hole. “Already so wet for me, aren’t you?” You nodded, unable to stop the moan that spilled from your lips when he pushed one of them inside you.

There was nothing Jeonghan wanted more than to fuck you senseless right now. He’d been holding himself back for a week. Just the sounds of your moans and the way he had to hold you down just to get you to stop squirming had his cock straining against his pants. The only reason he bothered with foreplay was so you’d take him without a fuss (and because he liked it when you begged him not to stop).

Your head fell back onto Jeonghan’s shoulder at the addition of a second finger, your eyes screwed shut and your mouth hanging open while you panted and whined. “F-Feels s’ good, sir. Missed this so much. Missed you so much.”

“Missed you too, baby,” Jeonghan mumbled, curling his fingers up inside of you to hit that spot that had your head spinning. You’re shaking and sweating and you can’t think straight, the feeling of Jeonghan’s fingers caressing your insides forces any other thoughts out of your head. Just when you think you can’t handle anything else, Jeonghan suddenly pinches your swollen clit, the sensation making you tighten around his fingers as you scream. “Liked that, didn’t you?” He repeated the action, the corners of his lips tilting upwards when your body reacted the same way once again.

“Mmm, yeah, liked it so much, sir. Gonna c-cum, can I?” You forced your eyes open to look at him, the pleasing look on your face doing nothing but making him harder. If he didn’t need to fuck you so bad, he would’ve said no. Seeing as this wasn’t the case, Jeonghan nodded, despite wanting this to last just a little longer.

“Yeah, princess. Go ahead and cum for me.”

His permission was all you needed before you allowed yourself to fall apart on his fingers. You cry out his name over and over until you’re left breathless. Jeonghan continues to finger you until your high has passed, and once it has, he pulls his fingers out and holds them up to your mouth. “Open,” he says, and you allow your lips to part enough for him to stick them into your mouth.

The taste of yourself on your own tongue and the action itself has you groaning, and you close your lips around his fingers, sucking off every last drop of your release.

“Good girl, sucking my fingers like the whore you are. I almost forgot how much of a slut you are,” This time, Jeonghan groans at your actions, pulling his fingers away. When you finally opened your eyes again, he was already naked. Oh, naked Jeonghan, one of your favorite sights, by far. Leaning forward, you ghosted your hands over the base of his cock, which had the older man moaning. “Fuck, baby, so desperate for my cock aren’t you? Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you.”

You fell backwards onto the bed and gazed up into Jeonghan’s eyes, holding onto his arms tightly as the tip of his cock slipped into your aching pussy. It had been long—too long—that you had gone without the satisfying feeling of Jeonghan stretching you apart and filling you to the brim, you almost forgot how good it felt. Jeonghan felt the same, he had long craved the warmth of your insides, how wet you’d get for him so easily, how you so easily obeyed his every order.

He didn’t bother to start off slow, not when he had been waiting so long to finally have you like this. His pace was rough and unforgiving, each thrust seemed deeper than the last, but still you loved every second of it.

You wrapped your legs around his waist, wanting his to be as close to you as he could possibly be. “Ah! Yes, right there, sir!” You cried, out as his cock abused your sweet spot, your eyes rolling back into your head.

“Feels so good, doesn’t it, princess? You like it when I fuck you like this? Hm? When I use this tight, cute little pussy of yours?”

You nodded, the words you had planned to say dying at the back of your throat and being replaced by sounds that were a combination of grunts and moans. With one of his hands, Jeonghan held onto your face, trying to get you to look at him. Your eyes were glassy and unfocused with lust, and Jeonghan grinned at your fucked-out state.

“Oh baby, if only you could see yourself,” He groaned. “So fucking pretty, you can’t even use your words. All you can do is moan like the little cockslut you are, isn’t that right?” Just like he had done before, Jeonghan’s fingers pinched your clit, once again making you cry out with pleasure.

You tried to speak—to warn him of your imminent orgasm, but all you could squeak out were a chorus of high-pitched whines as the man above you pushed you closer to your release. He seemed to get the hint though, with the way your hole clenched around his cock, making it harder for him to move.

“Gonna cum, princess?” You squeaked again. “Aw, I know, baby. Poor sweet thing, can’t even tell me yourself. You don’t need to ask me, since I’m sure you would’ve cum anyway. But go ahead, cum.” His tone was so mean and condescending, and that was exactly that tone that made you cum for a second time.

Not even a moment after you had cum, Jeonghan was following you over the edge, pushing his cum deeper into your pulsating core all while your spent body shuddered beneath him. He shushed you, stroking your hair to get you to become calm and quiet once more before snapping his hips forward again.

“S-sir! I’m still…” Jeonghan shushed you again, never letting up with the fast pace he had set earlier on. His hips snapped against yours, the sound of skin against skin being one of the only sounds in the room aside from your pornographic moans and the occasional groans or rare grunt from Jeonghan. You were so out of it, you couldn’t even stop the words that came flying out of your mouth. “D-Daddy, please…”

You don’t think you’ve ever heard Jeonghan moan so loud.

“It’s alright baby, Daddy’s got you.”

The two of you continued for what felt like hours. Several different positions, a dozen more orgasms, one very long bath, and a two-hour long nap later, you could finally feel your body again. You blinked, looking around the room when Jeonghan opened the door.

“You’re awake,” his smile was gentle. “Do you need anything?”

You shook your head. “No, that’s alright, thank you.”

Jeonghan made his way to the bed and knelt down in front of you. “I didn’t hurt you, did I, baby?” The concern was written all over his face, the idea of you being in any sort of pain or discomfort would absolutely break his heart. Now you were the one smiling.

“No, never. If that were the case I would’ve told you, sir,” you tucked a strand of his hair behind his ear, letting your hand linger on the side of his face. “I think I’m in love with you.” You confessed quietly, almost as if you were afraid to admit it.

“You’re really gonna act all shy after everything we’ve done today?” He teased you, resting his head on your thighs. “Don’t worry, princess. I love you too.”

Don’t worry princess, I love you too.

You could’ve died right then. Jeonghan’s cheek on your thigh, his breath tickling your skin, reciprocating his love for you. Nothing could be better. Just you, Jeonghan, and—

“Hellooooo? [Y/n]? Dad? I’m home.”

Iseul.

“Iseullllll!” You shouted. Jeonghan pulled himself away despite his reluctance to part from you and stood himself up right as Iseul walked into the room.

She gasped. “Dad? You’re here too? Did I miss something?”

“Nothing at all, Seulie.” Jeonghan assured his daughter, his hand on her back as he walked her out of the room. “Did you find everything you were looking for? Nothing happened to the car, right?”

“I drive fine, what do you mean? You’re mean, you know that? [Y/n] never complains about my driving.”

He spared you one last glance, and your heart skipped a beat. It was just like the last time. Except this time, you loved Jeonghan, and he loved you back.

And that was the only thing you could ever want for Christmas.

#yoon jeonghan #svt jeonghan #jeonghan x reader #jeonghan #jeonghan smut #seventeen jeonghan #seventeen #svt #seventeen x reader #svt x reader #seventeen smut #svt smut

[asahicore]

moonlight - psh (m)

this work contains smut - minors please do not interact pairing. dancer!sunghoon x fem!reader synopsis. In August 1963, your monotonous summer vacation becomes a lot more exciting when you meet a group of dancers that work as the entertainment staff of the resort you and your family are staying at. Your fascination with them, and particularly dancers and close friends Sunghoon and Chaewon, pushes you to help them out by taking Chaewon's place at another hotel's show when she's unable to dance. The week you spend with Sunghoon as he teaches you to dance and the events thereafter give you a lot more than the ability to mambo. genre. dirty dancing au, strangers to lovers, summer au, poor boy x rich girl trope, the Big 3 (fluff angst n smut) word count. 32.2k a/n. it's finally here !!! i've been working on this for a while so i hope you guys will like it, please lmk what u think ur feedback is super important to me !!! if you've seen dirty dancing you'll see that this is like.. a complete copy of the movie lmaooo i'm sorry i didn't wanna stray from the plot cz i love it 2 much <//3 i'll make a posting schedule shortly after this so you guys can see which of my old works i'll be reposting and all that :)) enjoy !! also thanks to @ozymandia-s for betareading this u deserve the world and u made this fic a thousand times better <333 and yep thats a compliment from me to u so u better treasure it fr.

It’s the summer of 1963, everybody calls you Baby, and it hasn’t occurred to you to mind. You’re 18, have plans to change the world, and are sure there isn’t a better man than your father.

After years of being too busy to leave work for over a week, your father has finally retired, and you can all go on a long, well-deserved summer break. Like most people your age, your dream vacation would be to backpack through Europe or Asia, discovering the wonders the world has to offer, meeting people from all walks of life and eating all sorts of foreign delicacies. But your parents wish for something more laid-back, so, on the first Sunday of August, after a six-hour drive, you get out of the car at Kellerman’s, a summer resort that belongs to your father’s old friend. You are to spend the rest of the month here, until the last day of the season.

The resort is truly a sight to behold. Even though it’s only four floors high, the main building is downright massive in terms of how much space it occupies. You can imagine the many rooms it must hold, such as the different restaurants and their respective kitchens, the ballroom and other leisure rooms, the stage for various shows, and some offices and apartments where the highest members of staff reside. Tables are scattered all across the front lawn, mainly older ladies and gentlemen sitting at them, drinking lemonade, playing cards, gossiping. You can make out a golf course and a small pond from afar, as well as the back lawn where you’re told most of the activities take place. Such activities include the outdoor dancing lessons, which your mother and sister Seeun want to get to immediately.

Max, your father’s friend, greets you as soon as you arrive as if he’s been waiting for you. Amused, you watch as they clasp each other’s hand before coming into an embrace, giving three hard but friendly pats to the other’s back. “So glad to finally have you here, Doc,” Max says earnestly. “I promise you, one week here and you’ll feel like you’ve never worked a day in your life, that’s how relaxed you’ll be.” Your father laughs and nods, and you turn your attention away when they start talking about work, and how life’s been, and how your daughters have grown, and other things you don’t care much for. 

You notice that a member of staff has begun to unload your numerous bags from the trunk, about half of which are your sister’s (“See, Mommy, I told you I should’ve brought those coral heels!” you hear her complain), and start helping him out. He turns to you with a smile as you haul a suitcase onto the trolley.

“Hey, thanks a lot! You looking for a job here?” he jokes, making you smile.

“Just wanted to help out, but I’ll let you know. I’m Baby, by the way.”

“Baby? Is that your real name?” he asks with an amused expression and a quizzical tilt to his head.

“No, but it’s what everyone calls me,” you beam back.

“Alright then, Baby. I’m Jake.” He wipes some sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand before extending it to you, and you take it, shaking it enthusiastically. 

Your conversation stops there when your father calls out your name, motioning for you to follow him and your mother and sister. “Come, Baby, let the staff do their work.” You give Jake an apologetic smile and wave him goodbye, but he simply shrugs and turns away, seemingly used to this kind of dismissal from guests.

“See you around, Baby,” you hear him say as you start to walk away.

-

Seeun only gives you a few minutes to settle into your shared room and unpack your suitcase before she practically drags you outside, eager to get to the dance class in time. Your older sister absolutely loves dancing. No matter where or with who, if there’s music, she’ll start moving. 

You, on the other hand, have two left feet, which doesn’t make dancing such a fun activity. You like it, but always feel you look like a fool. As for dancing with a partner, the intimacy that comes with it is too much for you, and isn’t something you particularly want to share with boys you barely know, nevermind complete strangers, like the people at the merengue class your sister is making you rush to. 

It takes place in the gazebo, which is wide enough to host about thirty guests and the instructor, who introduces herself as Chaewon. You try to follow her “1, 2, 1, 2” as best you can but it’s hard to focus on the rhythm when you have to avoid being stepped on by the lady to your left and stepping on the man to your right. Everything around you is turned upside down when she cheerfully calls out, “Let’s get into a circle! Gents on the outside, ladies on the inside! C’mon now!”

You manage to make your way into the inner circle, holding onto the hips of the woman in front of you, and finally start to sway to the rhythm a bit more. “Come on ladies! God wouldn’t have given you this body if he didn’t want you to shake it!” Chaewon shouts enthusiastically, emphasizing on the “shake” with a movement of her own.

“On the count of three,” she calls out, “ladies, you’ll turn around, and meet the man of your dreams! 1, 2, 3!”

You find yourself face to face with a grandma that had ended up in the gents’ circle and force on your best smile as you dance with her. She looks delighted, but that expression might just be stuck on her face permanently.

The class comes to an end and the afternoon with it, and you leave the bungalow while everyone gets ready for dinner, yelling out that you’re going to look around as you close the door behind you. It’s the early evening and the sun has just started to set, but not enough for the gentle breeze to be too cold. The small, round bushes and colorful flowers that line the pebbled path from the bungalows to the main building have been expertly tended to; there isn’t a stray weed, nor branch that hasn’t been cut properly nor a wilting plant. It’s all so perfect, it almost looks fake. Yet, when you bend down to feel a petal, it’s soft under your fingertips and very much real.

You walk on the porch that surrounds the main building until you reach the outside entrance to the restaurant. Max’s booming voice catches your attention and you’re able to peek through the ajar door, making sure you can’t be seen from where you stand. Your father’s friend sits at a table while the waiters stand in a half-circle in front of him, hands locked behind them and heads slightly bowed.

“Tonight’s the start of the second half of the season, so I’ll use this opportunity to set a little reminder. You’re here because I chose you lot from the most prestigious schools in the country and you need some financial help, correct?” He doesn’t wait for an answer. “So do your job, and do it well. And if you want extra compensation, the gents here may be very generous if you show their daughters a good time and keep their wives happy. But no funny business, you keep your hands off. Got it?”

A quiet flurry of yeses is heard throughout the room just as a group of young people stride in, the sight of them piquing your interest. They’re wearing much more fitted and fashionable clothes compared to the waiters’ simple white vests and trousers, and carry themselves with a confidence you’ve only seen in celebrities and important people. The man that leads them particularly catches your attention: slicked-back hair, useless sunglasses now that the sun has set, all-black clothes, too much leather for the summer weather and the prettiest face you think you’ve ever seen to top it all off. He looks like an off-duty movie star.

“You hear that, boys? No funny business,” he says with a smirk to the group behind him, and they chuckle in response, eyeing the waiters up and down. They work at the same establishment, but they seem to be from two totally different worlds, you notice.

“I think you’re the one who should keep that in mind,” one of the waiters says just as the group passes by him, just loud enough for the other guy to hear. He reacts immediately to the taunt, spinning around and pointing a threatening finger to the waiter’s chest. 

“And I think you should heed your own advice, you jackass,” he spits, unfiltered venom in his voice. The waiter only smirks condescendingly, as if proud his remark had struck a nerve.

“Alright, alright, calm down, Sunghoon, and lay off of Heeseung. You’re booked and busy this week, and your whole entertainment team has work to do, okay?” Max says, tone stern as if telling a child off.

Sunghoon takes a step back but doesn’t look away from Heeseung as he scoffs a simple whatever. He then pivots back around and leads his team out of the room. You decide you’ve seen enough and turn around yourself, heading back to your family’s bungalow with quick steps.

Barely half an hour later, you’re back at the restaurant. The tables have all been set, the candles have been lit, a band is playing soft jazz in the corner, and the waiters are taking care of the guests’ orders and keeping them content. You’ve just sat down when Max himself approaches, introducing your waiter for tonight to your table. You try not to let your astonishment show when you instantly recognise him as the one who had had that scuff with Sunghoon earlier.

“Doc, this is Heeseung Lee, and he’ll take care of you tonight,” he addresses your father, a paternal hand around Heeseung’s shoulder. “He’s a third year med student at Harvard and has been working here every summer for the past three years. A very reliable and hardworking young man.” You feel like you’re being sold a car, but your father just smiles and nods approvingly at Heeseung.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Heeseung,” your father greets, holding out a hand for the young man to shake.

“The pleasure’s all mine, Doctor,” Heeseung responds, a most dazzling smile on his lips. If you hadn’t seen him earlier, you wouldn’t believe that this smile could turn snarky and patronizing.

“This is my wife, our eldest Seeun and our youngest Y/N, but we all call her Baby. She’s going to change the world,” your father introduces, beaming proudly at you.

“Yeah, and Seeun’s going to decorate it,” you say, turning to your sister. A bit unprovoked, perhaps, but this is just the way you and your sister have always been. You smile and tilt your head innocently as she glares at you.

“I think she already does,” Heeseung says, your eyebrow raising up in surprise as your sister looks down at her hands, the sudden compliment making her blush.

“Alright, Heeseung, go get these folks our best champagne. On the house!” Max exclaims, beaming at your parents.

“Yes, sir,” Heeseung says, bowing his head slightly to Max and your table before shooting your sister a smile and walking off. 

“Oh, and here’s someone else I want to introduce to you - Jay, come here! That’s my grandson Jay. Yale Business School,” Max says emphatically. Jay approaches your table quickly, a somewhat self-assured yet awkward smile on his face. He greets your parents and sister with a nod of his head until his eyes settle on you. “This is Baby, I was telling you about her earlier. She’s going to study at Yale too, and her dad says she’ll change the world!”

Jay’s lips form a pout, the kind of pout one makes when watching kittens play or a child running to his mother, as if he finds your ambitions endearing. Used to this kind of reaction from men, you raise your eyebrows and a small smile spreads on your face as if to say, “yep, that’s me.”

“How nice, Baby. But before you go off and do that, how about you save me a dance? Tomorrow night at the ball?” he offers, and the urge to kick him in the balls is hard to resist, but resist you must.

“Of course she will!” your father answers for you, and you have no choice but to put on your best fake smile, but none of the three men seem to see through it. If your mother and sister notice how annoyed you are, they don’t say anything. Knowing them, they probably think you’re being unreasonable if you’re not already throwing yourself at such an obviously intelligent and respectable young man.

That’s how you find yourself the next day, hands stiffly clasped behind Jay’s neck and his own on the sides of your waist, dancing with him to a slow-paced but lighthearted live song, although dancing might be an overstatement as it’s impossible to find a proper rhythm with someone as clumsy as him. You never thought you’d meet a worse dancer than you, but here you were. You have to keep yourself from snorting everytime he winces or tuts when you “accidentally” step on his foot, and you make sure to leave ample room between the two of you for the Holy Spirit.

Most of the dance is spent in awkward silence, probably due to the fact that Jay’s gaze, one that is perhaps meant to be seductive but only comes off as creepy, seems to linger on you for too long and too many times. When a pair of kids spins right by you, looking far more talented and serious in their dancing than the two of you, Jay seems to think he needs to step up his game and tightens his grip on your waist. Although you try to disguise it as best you can, the action makes you look up at him in alarm, and you have to stop yourself from visibly flinching when he bends down to say something in your ear although the music isn’t that loud.

“So, Yale, huh? What are you going to study? Design?”

“Um, Environmental Studies and Politics, actually. I’m particularly interested in how underdeveloped countries work and how we can change things there for the better, rather than making things worse,” you correct him, slightly raising your voice so he can hear you from where you’re standing. 

Jay is visibly taken aback by your detailed response, and all he can do is nod. “Right, right, that’s-”

To no one’s disappointment, you never find out what Jay was going to say next because right then, the music suddenly picks up and one of the musicians announces “Sunghoon and Chaewon of the Entertainment Team for a mambo demonstration” into his mic. Your ears perk up at the sound of those two vaguely familiar names, and you quickly recognise Sunghoon as the leather-clad man from earlier and Chaewon as the merengue class instructor from yesterday. He’s now wearing a black suit jacket and matching trousers with a tight white button-up, the clothes fitting him perfectly and making the muscles underneath them appear when the light hits him just right. On her is one of the most beautiful dresses you’ve ever seen, the red fringed fabric draping over her body like it was created for her, her toned upper back and arms on display.

The crowd of guests quickly forms a circle around the couple, giving them enough space to put on their show, and everyone, including you, is immediately enthralled by their performance. You’re mesmerized by how elegant and energetic at once their dance is, the smiles on their faces unfaltering and their legs and arms forming perfect lines at all times. Their posture is proud and their gazes are always fixed on each other even as they spin around, somehow never getting dizzy. They move in perfect synchronization as one entity rather than two separate people simply dancing together, and even though it is probably due to an impressive amount of practice, you can’t help but find that their chemistry is what makes them so fascinating. When he lifts her into the air, it’s with so little effort that she looks like she weighs no more than a feather. There is not a step out of place, and you’re reminded of those impeccable bushes and flowers from the day before. It makes you wonder how it is possible for two people to look so perfect together, and if that perfection is only superficial or not.

“Who are they?” you ask Jay, your curiosity about them greater than your aversion to talking to him.

From the corner of your eye, you see him looking surprised by your question before he leans in and answers. “Sunghoon Park and Chaewon Kim. They’re part of the dance people. Here to keep the guests happy and entertained.” He sighs, crossing his arms over his chest and tilting his head in discontentment. “They shouldn’t be showing off with each other like that, it won’t sell lessons. I’ll need to have a talk with them later.”

You barely register Jay’s words after he’s answered your question, your attention focused back on the dancers in front of you. On the other side of the room, you spot Max frowning at them and marching towards them. As soon as Sunghoon and Chaewon notice him, he waves them off and they separate, choosing a guest as their new partner to dance with, which you assume is their way of doing a taster session.

Jay drags you off to sit at a table and for the better part of an hour, you let him bore your ears off as he tells you either things he can’t fathom you’d already know even though you do, or things you couldn’t care any less about. It’s such a shame that a man with that handsome a face and that charming a smile would have the stalest of personalities, yet deem himself the most interesting man to walk the Earth. You nod and hum when you’re supposed to, and that’s all he needs to think you’re listening intently, when really you can’t stop thinking about the dancers you just saw, and even steal glances at them still dancing with some guests mere meters away from you. All you want to do is get up and get Sunghoon’s, or even Chaewon’s attention so they could show you how to move like them - just touching their shoulder or waist would be thrilling. But when you catch your mother’s eye a few tables away and she beams at you, two thumbs up in the air, you know you need to stay planted in your chair.

Thankfully, the amount of guests in the room starts to dwindle, and you use this dip in the evening to run off, telling Jay it’s getting late and you need to get back to your bungalow. You don’t let him try to convince you to stay back, and grab your purse, excitedly waving goodbye at him. He’s probably confused, but you’re too giddy at the prospect of finally leaving to care. 

You were on your way to the bungalow, you really were - but just as you reach it, light from a tall lodge about five hundred meters away catches your attention, and you’re too curious about the building you hadn’t noticed before not to investigate. So you continue walking up the small hill where all the guest lodgings rest until you find yourself before a sign that reads “STAFF QUARTERS - GUESTS KEEP OUT,” which you promptly decide to ignore.

In just a minute, a wooden bridge reveals itself, enabling you to cross over the current that separates you from the other bank, where the lodge stands. If you looked to your right, you could’ve made out some more, smaller and dingier-looking bungalows than the guests’ that hosted the staff behind all those trees, but you run into a familiar face before you can take notice of them.

“Hey! I recognize you. Baby, right?”

“Yeah, and you’re Jake!” you beam, surprised not only by seeing him again here, but by the three huge watermelons he carries in his arms like oversized newborn triplets. 

“Yeah…” he trails, squinting his eyes at you, his enthusiasm turning into suspicion. “You can’t be here. Max would kill me. Go back to the dance, Baby.” He can only take a few steps forward before you grab a watermelon from his unsteady hold, putting your most convincing smile on.

“I’ll help you carry these!” you state rather than offer, and march forwards across the bridge. Behind you, Jake sighs and shakes his head, then rushes to stop you in your tracks.

“Didn’t you read the sign? This area is staff only, you can’t be here,” he repeats, punctuating his words. He stays unwavering even at the receiving end of your very menacing glare, so you simply huff and stack the watermelon back on top of the other two and turn away. It takes him approximately two seconds to change his mind. “Can you keep a secret?”

Jake doesn’t prepare you for what you’re about to see when you enter the staff common lodge, but you don’t think anything could. The smell of a room full of people sweating and moving about hits you instantly, the heat it creates hanging heavy in the air. The breeze coming in through the open windows is practically useless in bringing the temperature down, but you aren’t curious to find out what it’d be like with the windows closed.

The music, a genre your father always bristles at when he hears it on the radio, is now blasting in your ears rather than whistling through the wind, and it takes you a few moments to adjust to the volume and intensity of the bass and drums bouncing off the walls of the room. The guitar sound is sensual and almost yearning, the singer longs for his lover, and the tempo is just fast enough for the dancers to find a swaying rhythm.

As if the lyrics themselves aren’t enough to make you blush, the way the staff dances makes you feel like you’re intruding on something. You try to look away as a couple thrusts their hips into each other’s, only to find another lowering themselves to the group until they’re crouching then slowly rising again, using each other as support the whole time. Skirts bunched up around hips, shirts almost fully unbuttoned or even discarded, hands grabbing onto the partner’s clothes or bare skin - you’ve never seen anyone dance that way. Far from the choreographed performances you’re used to, here, they’re simply letting their bodies move to the music without any second thoughts or a care in the world. You hadn’t even known this could be considered dancing, but surely, when your body molds itself this perfectly to the melody and your partner’s hands, then you can only be dancing. 

Watermelon in arms, you follow Jake as he snakes his way to the back of the room through sweaty bodies holding each other close. You recognise a few people here and there as the entertainment staff who host activities, teach dance classes or help guests find their way around. They peer back at you, expressions either confused or disdainful - you aren’t sure whether that’s because they don’t know who you are, or because they do and don’t like seeing you there. Even if they don’t know that you’re Baby, your dress at least is a dead giveaway of your being a guest. Your mom had picked it out for you - a white sleeveless summer dress that reaches almost to your knees and cinches in at the waist before flowing out over your hips. And no cleavage, of course. Along with your impeccably curled and styled hair, your prim and proper attire is a far cry from the short skirts, tight t-shirts and denim that the staff wears, revealing sunkissed skin and toned muscles. And if all of that still isn’t enough to tell you apart, then your wide eyes like a kid seeing fireworks for the first time should do it.

You finally reach the back of the room and set your watermelon on a bar counter. Jake rests his hands on his hips and watches the dancers, a smile on his face, the kind of smile you wear when you can never get enough of a sight even though you witness it everyday. You watch them too, but you must look a mix of fascinated and terrified - sure, they all look terrific, but if your dad caught you here, you’d be dead.

“Where’d they learn to do that?” you lean in to ask Jake as the next song starts playing, your gaze not leaving the dancers who adjust easily to the more upbeat tempo.

He looks at you, stunned. “Don’t you know? This is how the kids dance these days. This is what American basements look like on Friday nights.” His surprise turns into amusement and he steps in front of you, one hand extended for you to take and a mischievous look on his face. “Wanna try?”

Your eyes immediately double in size and you shake your hands in front of you, but he grabs one of them anyway and starts leading you back into the middle of the room. You’re saved by the doors suddenly bursting open, catching everyone’s attention. In run Sunghoon and Chaewon, wearing the same clothes from earlier, although Sunghoon has ditched the suit jacket and popped the top buttons of his shirt open. Your stomach flips at the sight of his flushed cheeks and hair slick with sweat.

Jake chuckles when he sees how transfixed you are by the two of them, dancing so differently from earlier, their moves far more sexual, hands not so polite anymore, completely free to do whatever they wish. Rather than a smile, Sunghoon wears a small frown and bites his bottom lip, deepening his dimples, and it all seems to make each of his moves that much harsher. The sheer sex appeal that he exudes is absolutely undeniable, and it makes you feel things you’ve never felt before - things you’re not quite unsure how to name. You let out a small gasp as Chaewon jumps and hooks her legs around his hips effortlessly, then as she leans her upper body back until her head almost touches the ground. Sunghoon’s hands are tight around her waist and his biceps apparent under the thin fabric of his dress shirt. You realize how strong Sunghoon must be when he carries her all the way to his shoulders, letting her rest her knees there as she plays with her skirt and swings her head from side to side. You’ve never seen anyone look so good while having so much fun.

“They look great together,” you blurt out without thinking.

“Don’t they?” Jake says, looking out at them with a fond smile. “You’d think they were a couple.”

This makes your head pivot towards Jake. “Well, aren’t they?”

“Not since we were kids, no. They’ve just been dancing together for so long that they’ve developed this- this chemistry and understanding of each other, I guess.” 

“Do you know them well?”

“Sunghoon’s my best friend from home. He met Chaewon when he started working here when we were 16, and then he got me this job when we were 17. The three of us are 22 now.” He meets your gaze and his smile grows wider. “Why, you interested?”

The sudden question (and the very obvious, very embarrassing answer) takes you aback and you stammer out a few nonsensical syllables before frowning at him. Your reaction just seems to amuse him. “No, I’m not. Just asking,” you manage to say.

He looks back at them, and you follow his gaze. “Well, good, cause we’re not allowed to get involved with the guests anyway. Which is why you shouldn’t be here in the first place.”

Just then, the song ends and Sunghoon and Chaewon laugh before they separate, finding another partner to dance with. As Chaewon heads towards someone else, Sunghoon catches your stare and walks to where you and Jake stand, eyes fixed on your face. You feel small under his gaze, but you will your knees not to buckle underneath you, although that’s hard to do when his eyes sweep your figure, giving you a once-over.

“What’s she doing here?” he questions Jake without looking away from you.

“That’s Baby, she came with me,” Jake says, not really answering the question.

“I carried a watermelon,” you blurt, not really answering the question either, but that seems to satisfy Sunghoon. His eyebrows raise slightly before he heads back to the dancefloor and starts dancing again. You release a breath you hadn’t known you were holding, but another one catches right in your throat when, after barely thirty seconds, he pivots back around as if there was still something he was curious about. His eyes stay focused on you, unreadable.

And then, he bows his head slightly, looks up at you through his eyebrows, raises his hand, and beckons you to him with his index finger. As if spellbound, your feet move on their own until you find yourself in front of him, his hands reaching immediately for your hips and holding on tight there. All the nerves in your body are on edge and your heartbeat speeds up, almost matching the fast tempo of the song resonating throughout the room. Simply remembering to breathe becomes an arduous task. Jake’s voice is a faint sound as he says, “So you go dance with him, but not me?”

This kind of dancing is completely unfamiliar to you, so you have no idea what to do. Thankfully, Sunghoon doesn’t seem to expect anything else, and he knows how to guide you so that you get the gist of it. “Keep your eyes on me,” he commands quietly, gesturing with two fingers for your gaze to stay on his. “And move your hips in a circle, just like that,” he adds, executing the move for you to mirror. “Just relax, you’re too stiff. Relax your arms. Put them around my shoulders.” His hands brush down from your shoulders to your wrists, sending a trail of fire all along your arms, grabbing them and resting them on his shoulders himself before settling back on your waist. His arm snakes its way around it, bringing you closer to him. You aren’t sure what’s more electrifying, his gaze or his touch.

You start to focus on the music and on getting your body to move along to it, and it feels like a miracle when your hips, firmly pressed against his own, sway side-to-side in rhythm. Remembering what you saw earlier, you lean back slightly, hips still moving in small circles, trusting him to keep you from falling. You lean back as far as you can, and something about it is so liberating, you feel the adrenaline rushing through your body as if it’s the only thing keeping you alive. When you come back up, your palms are flat against his chest and he looks at you with a proud but surprised smirk that lits your insides up. “Just like that,” he whispers, but his face is close enough for you to hear him over the music.

He spins you around a few times, and as quickly as he appeared, he’s already gone, having weaved his way through the crowd back towards Jake. It takes you a few seconds to register his absence, but when it does, it’s like all the warmth he filled you with is gone; you’re left only with the heavy heat weighing the room down and you with it, when you’d felt light like air not a moment ago.

Before you can decide on what to do next, someone taps your shoulder, and you turn around to find Heeseung frowning down at you. In the fraction of a second, you can tell this is the snarky Heeseung that you’d seen when you were snooping around the day before rather than the polite Heeseung that had waited your table that night.

“Baby, right? I don’t know what you’re doing here, but your sister and parents are looking all over for you. If I were you, I’d go now, and quick.”

Alarm shoots through you as you realize you’d been here for twenty minutes at least, the sort of absence that wouldn’t go unnoticed by your family this late at night. You thank him rapidly and practically run towards the door before risking a look back at Jake and Sunghoon, still standing in the corner of the room. Jake looks worried, so you send him a thumbs up, but Sunghoon simply peers at you, sipping on a beer as his back rests against the wall, that same unreadable look from before back on his face. You don’t linger to figure it out and rush to your bungalow, coming up with an excuse that you got lost on your way back for your parents to believe. Because their Baby would never do anything she isn’t supposed to, right?

That night, as you toss and turn in bed, trying to fall asleep, your mind wanders off to those warm, big hands firmly planted on your waist, and how they had guided your body until it moved on its own accord, until it let itself go and only followed the rhythm. How far can you go until your body no longer belongs to you but rather to the music, or to the person holding you close, you wonder? And if that happened, would you, for a moment at least, no matter how fleeting, be freed of all your worries for your future and of all the pressure on your shoulders?

Your feet already ache - from dancing or from wanting to dance some more, you can’t quite tell.

-

Every year when August comes, it takes you by surprise how early the sun sets. Just as you’d gotten used to the sky still being fairly light by 10 p.m., it was already getting dark at nine. This is what you think about a few nights later as you look out at the dark sky, the bright full moon and the hundreds of stars lighting it up. You’re standing next to the gazebo with your parents as you watch other guests dancing about; clearly, since you’re thinking about the state of the sky and the sun in the summer, you’re very entertained. Your sister has managed to become friends with some of the other guests’ kids, as well as some of the staff, and has even formed a budding romance with Heeseung, which your parents have made it obvious they approve of. This means that she is excused of any activities she might not want to partake in, while you have to follow your parents everywhere.

Your gaze follows Sunghoon as he dances with an older woman, guiding her through the dance and teaching her a few steps. You can’t help but frown slightly at his forced smile when she lets her hands wander a bit too far down his back, and you wonder why he doesn’t say anything when he looks so obviously uncomfortable.

“You see that woman over there?” you hear Max ask your father as he motions to the lady dancing with Sunghoon. “Vivian Kim. We call women like her bungalow bunnies. Their husbands work all week and only come back on weekends. That dancer Park Sunghoon is pretty popular with them, if you know what I mean,” he comments with a dark chuckle. “But I gotta pretend like I don’t know any better, otherwise the wives are unhappy. And if the wives are unhappy, so are the husbands, and then I lose money.”

You daze out of the conversation when you see Jay approaching, his steps quick and headed directly towards Sunghoon. “Where’s Chaewon?” he questions impatiently, taking no notice of Vivian, who seems to take no notice of him either and continues swaying her hips to the music.

“What do you mean where’s Chaewon? She’s on a break, Chaewon needs a break,” Sunghoon bites back, tone just as harsh as Jay’s. That seems to shut Jay up, and he just squints at him before turning his head to where you’re standing. His whole demeanor changes instantly as he walks towards you, that smile one would reserve for children that he always looks at you with.

“Hey Baby, wanna go on a walk?” he asks, but with the intent way your parents, Max and Jay himself are peering down at you, you know you don’t have much of a choice.

You put on your best forced smile and take his extended hand. “Sure, Jay.”

He takes you to a small wooden bridge that overpasses a small but feisty current. The walk there is fairly silent, which you’re thankful for, because it’s easier to pretend Jay isn’t here when he’s not talking, but the fantasy is shattered everytime he sighs and hums contentedly. It’s like he thinks spending five minutes without talking will make the world implode, and he has to make some kind of noise to keep the balance.

When you reach the bridge, you lean back against the rail, and he leans on his side, apparently so he can look at you better. “I love to watch your hair blow in the breeze,” he says after a few moments, and it takes everything in you to keep your laughter in at the sudden romanticism.

“You know, not to brag,” he starts, and you know he’s about to say the most pretentious thing you’ve ever heard, “but around here, I’m known as the catch of the county.” He’s smiling, but you know he’s being fully serious. “I mean, it makes sense, doesn’t it? I’m handsome, parents love me, and I go to the best school in the country. People ask me, ‘well, what’s the difference between you and any other guy at Yale,’ and I say, ‘five hotels and a million-dollar inheritance!’” He bursts laughing like he’s just made the funniest joke ever, although you’re not sure where the joke is. You chuckle awkwardly and nod, remembering your mother’s advice - when in doubt, just nod. You’re not particularly in doubt, but you’re also not sure how to respond to such ostentatious self-praise.

To your great despair, Jay is about to open his mouth again, but a voice coming from the exit of the forest near you stops him in his tracks. “Heeseung, please, you have to help me with this-,” the voice says, and you recognize it quickly as Chaewon’s.

“I told you, it’s none of my damn business.”

“But it is! Please!” she shouts back. He walks ahead of her and she tries to catch up to him, and just like that, they’re already gone without having noticed you or Jay.

A hand placed delicately on your shoulder snaps you from your thoughts. You turn to Jay who has a sad look in his eyes and who sighs as if pained to say what he has to say next. “You know, Baby, sometimes, in this world, you’ll see things you don’t want to see. And sometimes, you can’t do anything about them. It’s all part of growing up,” he finishes, his tone self-important like he’s just taught you a world of knowledge. 

“You hungry?” he suddenly adds, all cheery. “C’mon, eating something might take your mind off of this. We can go to the kitchens and get you anything you’d like.”

He indeed takes you to the restaurant kitchens, completely empty due to the late hour. He opens up a fridge, and even though he basically does, the way he acts like he owns the place makes you wince. “So, what have we here? Some smoked salmon canapés, some ham sandwiches… ooh, brownies! What else…” he trails off, but your attention has been caught by something else. 

You can hear someone snuffling somewhere in the room, and when you lean to the side to peer behind the wall, you can make out a female figure crouched down in the dark. She’s trembling from head-to-toe, and when she lifts her head to look at you, you recognize her as Chaewon. You’ve never seen anyone looking so scared.

Thinking quickly, you grab Jay by the shoulders, smiling at him as you say, “You know what, I don’t think I’m actually that hungry, let’s just head back to the gazebo, yeah?”

For once, you’re the one who doesn’t let him answer your question and you speed out of the kitchens and back to the gazebo. You find Jake immediately, rushing to him to tell him what you saw, and he in turn rushes to Sunghoon, who apologizes and drops his dancing partner’s hand as soon as he hears what’s going on. Ignoring Jay’s confused look, you run with them back to the kitchens, from which Chaewon hasn’t moved an inch.

Sunghoon sits next to her, taking her in his arms and helping her up. “It’s okay, you’re okay, I’m here now. Everything’s fine. Let’s get you back to my room, okay? It’ll be quiet there,” he coos, getting her snuffles to calm down and her breath to steady itself.

Since none of them tell you to go back, you follow along, Chaewon in Sunghoon’s arms in front and you and Jake not too far behind. “What’s wrong with her?” you ask Jake quietly.

“She’s pregnant.”

“Jake!” Sunghoon calls out indignantly, sending him a look as if to warn him.

“What? It’s not like she’d tell anyone.”

“Still, it’s none of her business,” Sunghoon replies, glancing briefly at you.

“And what’s he gonna do about it?” you can’t help but ask. This makes Sunghoon pivot on his heel and Chaewon frowns at the sudden movement.

“‘What’s he gonna do about it?’” he repeats, venom in his voice. “Oh of course, cause it’s my baby. Of course you’d assume that,” he practically spits at you. You try to stutter out a response, but nothing comes up. How could you not assume that, when you’ve only seen him taking care of her like she’s his responsibility?

You thought all staff lived in small bungalows, but the place you reach is more like a one-person studio. Sunghoon sits Chaewon down on a couch, covers her shoulders with a blanket and brings her a tall glass of water.

“So, whose is it then?” you ask again, eyes darting back and forth between the three figures that stare back at you. Sunghoon starts towards you, an accusing finger out, but Chaewon stops him.

“It’s fine, Sunghoon.” She sighs then lifts her gaze to look at you. Her eyes seem drained, like her tears took everything out of her. “It’s Heeseung’s,” she answers plainly, and you think your eyes bulge out of your face. What you’d witnessed earlier starts to make more sense in your head.

Next to you, Jake looks like he’ll explode if he has to keep in the words he wants to say any longer. “That bastard Heeseung. She needs money to get an operation, and she needs it soon, but he doesn’t give a shit,” Jake spits.

“But, Heeseung, he’s got money, I’m sure if you just ask him, he’ll-”

“Baby? Is that your name?” Chaewon asks softly, interrupting you. “Well, you don’t know shit about my problems, Baby,” she continues, her tone doing a 180. “You don’t think I’ve asked him? You don’t think he knows?”

“But-”

“Go back to your playpen, Baby,” she dismisses you, a finality to her tone. Sunghoon just glares at you while Jake shrugs, so you decide there’s nothing you can do than leave, and head back to your bungalow, heart heavy, but determined to help Chaewon out. There has to be something you can do, you just know it.

-

The next day, you pretend to help Heeseung set the tables for the lunch service to have a talk with him. You waste no time starting your interrogation, not even greeting him before diving straight into it.

“I know about Chaewon, Heeseung. You need to help her out,” you say sternly, using a random water pitcher you’d found at the entrance to fill up crystal glasses.

“Well hello to you too, Baby,” he says with a sarcastically sweet tone. His fake smile drops when he sees you won’t play into his game. “I don’t need to do anything,” he scoffs. “Not like it’s any of your business anyway.”

“Haven’t you seen her? You can’t leave her alone in a time like this, she needs your help. Even if it’s mostly financial help. It’s the least you can do.”

“Girls like her, they get into trouble all the time, okay? Hey, watch what you’re doing!” he whisper-yells when water spills over one of the glasses, not wanting to rouse the suspicion of any of the diners around.

“Yeah, because of guys like you,” you bite back, but he ignores you.

“She was bound to get knocked up at some point, going around like that.” You follow as he moves on the next table. 

“So you’re not going to do anything? Just put her in a bad situation and then run away?”

He finally turns to face you, looking at you like he’s exasperated, like you’re the bad guy here. “That girl’s not my problem, okay? She brought this upon herself.”

You take a step closer to him, a fakely sweet smile plastered on your lips. “You’re a jerk, Heeseung. You stay away from me, stay away from my sister, or I’ll have you fired.” You then raise the jug of water up to his chest, and keep that same smile as you pour it on him before marching away, ignoring the gasps that echo all around the room and Heeseung as he yells at you to come back.

-

Your mom is struggling to get the ball in when you find your parents on one of the many golf courses. Your dad smiles as he sees you nearing them, asking you if everything’s alright.

“Daddy.”

“Baby?” he answers, looking amused by your seriousness.

“You know how you say I should always do my best to help out others when they need it?”

“Of course.”

“Well, I’ve got friends who need some help.”

“What kind of help?” he asks, slightly frowning as he realizes you’re not being serious for no reason.

You take a big breath in. “Money.” You don’t like asking your dad for money, but it’s the only solution you’ve come up with.

“And just how much money?”

“Three hundred dollars?” you say, your sentence coming out like a question as you slightly wince in apprehension.

Your father sighs. “That’s a serious amount of money, Baby. This isn’t anything illegal, is it?” he adds after a beat, taking you aback. Is this illegal? If it is, your father doesn’t need to know it.

“No, no, of course not, Daddy,” you say, trying your best at a reassuring smile. It seems to work, because his expression softens and he smiles back.

“Of course not,” he repeats, “I should know that.” He takes you in his arms. “I’ll have the money ready for you tonight.” You hug him back, thanking him before skipping away to whatever activity you might find to distract yourself before the evening.

-

After dinner, when your dad’s given you an envelope filled with cash, you throw a quick excuse your parents’ way before rushing to the staff quarters, making sure no one sees you on your way there. The music emanating from the common room makes you hopeful you’ll find the people you’re looking for.

And indeed, you do - Sunghoon and Chaewon are holding each other close, her head resting on his chest, and swaying together to the slow and sensual rhythm of the music at the back of the room when you find them. You feel a ping of something uncomfortable in your heart but ignore it and head straight towards them. Chaewon turns around when you tap on her shoulder, her and Sunghoon both looking at you with unmasked animosity, but you just smile as you hand her the envelope. Jake notices you and walks over to stand next to his cousin.

“Here you go. I hope it’s enough,” you say, relieved to see her surprised but ecstatic expression when she opens the envelope and sees all the bills in there. Jake wears a similar expression but Sunghoon just leers down at you.

“Oh my God, Baby, this is amazing,” Chaewon exclaims in disbelief. “How did you get Heeseung to change his mind?”

You purse your lips. “It wasn’t Heeseung…”

She frowns slightly but her eyes widen at the realization that if it isn’t from Heeseung, it has to be from you. “Oh, Baby, thank you so much,” she murmurs.

“Yeah, takes a real saint to ask daddy,” Sunghoon says sarcastically. Chaewon’s head snaps towards you and she starts to shake her head, forcing the envelope back into your hands.

“I can’t accept it, then.”

“Why not?” you, Sunghoon and Jake blurt at the same time.

“Who cares where it comes from? You need the money,” Sunghoon says, trying to persuade her, but she just continues to shake her head.

“It doesn’t feel right. And I can’t go to the appointment anyway,” she chuckles defeatedly, and Sunghoon looks at Jake in confusion.

“I can only get her an appointment next Thursday, when you guys have your act at the Sheldrake,” he explains guiltily, as if it’s his fault.

“For fuck’s sake,” Sunghoon breathes out, looking up to the ceiling in despair, hands on his hips.

“Can’t you miss just that one night?” you ask innocently, but apparently it is the stupidest question on earth, judging from the harsh glare Sunghoon fixes you with.

“No, we can’t miss just that one night. This is our job, and if we cancel the Sheldrake, not only do we lose this summer’s salary, but also next summer’s gig. Our livelihoods depend on this,” he hisses.

“So… can’t someone fill in?” you ask again, and wince when he raises his tone.

“No, Little Miss Fix-It, someone can’t fill in. Everybody works here, unlike you. Unless you wanna do it,” he adds after a pause, chuckling sarcastically, “take some time off of Simon Says?”

You can only glare back at him, even though you couldn’t look as condescending as him if you tried. You’re just trying to help them out and find solutions, no need to be so rude about it. Jake looks back and forth between the two of you, a look on his face like he’s thinking things over.

“You know, maybe she could do it. You weren’t so bad last time, were you, Baby?” he says, eyebrows raised at you as he waits for your answer, a hopeful look on his face that makes you feel bad for letting him down.

You shake your head fervently - learning a complicated choreography and performing it in front of an audience is unthinkable to you. “No, no, I can’t even do the merengue.”

“C’mon!” he insists.

“You heard her, Jake, she can’t even do the merengue,” he repeats, adding venom to the words.

Chaewon doesn’t seem to think this is such a bad idea either. “But Sunghoon, you could teach anyone to dance, you’re an amazing leader,” she says eagerly, but Sunghoon just rolls his eyes and sighs.

“The act is in a week, even if I was the best teacher in the world, she couldn’t learn the whole routine in that time. It’s a lost cause,” he sneers, his gaze fixated harshly on you. You’re not sure whether the lost cause refers to the situation or to you.

You squint your eyes at him, trying to match his gaze. It’s one thing that you think it’s a bad idea, but it’s a whole other thing now that he’s so against it. Jake’s right - you weren’t that bad last week, you’re sure you could be an okay replacement. Sunghoon raises an eyebrow at you as if in challenge.

Challenge accepted, you think.

-

“Now it’s one, two, three, four,” Sunghoon says, synchronizing each number to the beat of the music. “You don’t dance ‘til the two.” This is probably the fifth time he tells you this in the past half-hour, and although you know what you’re meant to do, your body will simply not listen to your head.

You’re in the dance studio, trying as hard as you can to get your body to shape itself into what Sunghoon wants it to be. Arms up at shoulder-level, core engaged, back straight, head proud. He may repeat those directions over and over again, you aren’t used to holding yourself like that, and it’s a lot harder than it seems, even though he makes it look so natural.

He moves the tonearm of the record player so that the music starts from the beginning again and walks towards you, his stern gaze never leaving your eyes as if to say, “you better not mess it up this time.” It makes the room feel a lot hotter than it actually is, and the strong summer heat coming in from the open windows doesn’t help.

You can’t help but wonder if Sunghoon is this impatient with all of his students - surely he’d be out of a job if he actually behaved like this with the fancy ladies of the resort, so he must have some kind of problem with you. It wouldn’t take a genius to figure out that he isn’t the fondest of you, anyway. The fact that you’re only doing this to help him out and not for your own pleasure seems lost on him, but you’d rather not aggravate the situation by pointing that out.

His hands firmly holding yours, his gaze still fixed on your face, you hear your cue approaching and tell yourself “on the two, on the two, on the two,” but it’s no use, your foot starts to move a beat too early. But this time, Sunghoon anticipates your movement and says, softer than you expect ‘no,’ and you put your foot back down instead of stepping on his like countless times before. Then he instructs ‘now’, and you finally get it right, getting into the flow of the music properly. You repeat this process a few more times, and only take a break when he’s sure you won’t make mistakes anymore.

You’re halfway through a one-liter bottle of water when you hear him say, “Finally got the basic footwork down, only took an hour.” You scoff at the snarky remark and are about to come back at him with something just as petty, but you notice the shadow of a smile on his lips, more playful than patronizing, so you bite it back and try to suppress a smile of your own. With Sunghoon, you’ll take what you can get.

He doesn’t give you more than another minute of break, ignoring your complaints and urging you back towards him in the center of the room. “Let’s move on to the second part.”

You only have a week to get ready, so you practice like crazy, Sunghoon trying to reduce his working hours as much as possible and you slipping away from your parents and sister whenever you can. You go over the steps on your own, taking any opportunity to do so, whether that’s when you find yourself alone in your family’s rental or as you walk back across the bridge and lawn to the main grounds, letting your body move to the music in your head.

When she can make it, Chaewon also comes to practice with you. Her presence is always helpful - she sometimes stands behind you, holding you by the hips and correcting your posture, sometimes replaces either you or Sunghoon so you can watch her and mirror her moves from different perspectives. 

Although she was originally wary and dismissive of you, when she saw how intent you were on helping her, a complete stranger, out, her view of you completely changed. You can tell how thankful she is by the constant kindness she shows you, encouraging you to compensate for Sunghoon’s lack of praise.

Indeed, all three of you are surprised and happy to see how quickly you’re progressing, but Sunghoon has a knack for keeping his emotions behind a veil and his praises to a minimum. Sure, that means his compliments, his small ‘you did well today’ or ‘good job’ make you blush a little redder, but you wouldn’t complain if they were more frequent, either.

What he can’t hide from you, however, is that he is clearly starting to become more tolerant of your presence. You’d like to say you knew all along that he would soften up eventually, but truth is, you were scared he was going to stay this cold for the length of your time together, so it comes as even more of a relief when he stops reprimanding you so harshly for small mistakes or when he smiles along with you as you celebrate getting through a big chunk of the routine flawlessly for the first time. When one day, he actually laughs with you instead of berating you, you almost explode in on yourself out of joy. You convince yourself that those butterflies you feel erupting in your stomach is because it’s so surprising to see someone usually so guarded letting himself go a bit more, that it isn’t just the simple sound of his laughter making you feel lightheaded.

On the fourth day of practice, you manage to find enough time to practice for almost three hours in a row. Towards the end of the session, after feeling like you were about to pass out due to extortion, you have a strange surge of energy. Sunghoon, on the other hand, has almost exhausted his very impressive stamina, but still wants to go through what you’ve learned up until now.

The music starts, and you don’t know if it was this surge of energy, or if it was Sunghoon’s tired expression that made you want to tease him, but you decide it’d be funny to repeat back to him the directions he always gives you - you know them by heart at this point. 

“Hey! Head up,” you joke as you face each other again after a spin. “Lock your frame. Wiggly arms!” You’re happy to see he laughs along with you, shaking his head in amused disbelief at you.

The laughter immediately halts, however, when at the end of the routine, because of your lack of concentration, your foot slips and you find yourself much closer to him than necessary for the ending pose. Your breath hitches in your throat, and your cheeks immediately burn up. After a long moment, Sunghoon looks away, clearing his throat, and you take a big step back from him as if being any nearer might make you spontaneously combust.

“That was, um, that was good today. Good job,” he says quickly, then rushes to grab his stuff and leave the room. Forget the proximity the two of you were just in - was that a flustered Sunghoon you got to see? And was it because of you? It’s almost unfathomable that you could render him shy like that, but a small smirk plays on your lips at the idea of it.

Over the week, you start reaching for the thin tank tops and shorts you own, and steal some of Seeun’s lipgloss and mascara. If Sunghoon notices it, he doesn’t say anything. But perhaps, you’re the one who hasn’t noticed the way he glances at you in the mirror when you take a break or practice on your own, how he can’t help raking his eyes over your body when you aren’t looking, unable to reign his curiosity in. That you might want to get some kind of a reaction out of him doesn’t even cross his mind - because no matter how attractive he may be, he can’t imagine that a serious, educated girl like you with big plans for the future might be interested in a guy like him.

So even if his iciness thaws a bit, he doesn’t let it show that having you around messes with his head, and stays a stern instructor who wants you to get the routine down to a T. “We can’t afford to make any mistakes,” he always says. But there’s something about the way he delivers his instructions sometimes that makes it impossible for you to concentrate on the dance. He’s always either dancing with you, your bodies just a foot apart, or sitting on the floor close to you and watching you, so he doesn’t need to speak so loud for you to hear him. It’s this quietness mixed with the strictness of his tone that makes your insides completely melt. Soft yet rigid, intimate yet steely. 

“Don’t put your heel down, stay on your toes.” 

“Keep your eyes focused on me, especially when you’re spinning.” 

“Always keep your core and your head straight.” 

Words that have no double-meaning whatsoever, yet it doesn’t take long for you to start wondering if he keeps this tone everywhere. Whenever those thoughts cross your mind, you’re practically unable to look him in the eye and speak without stammering. He makes you dizzier than the spins you practice.

It’s on the fifth day that you realize how deep your infatuation with Sunghoon truly is. The routine isn’t exceptionally long, so after five days of practicing, you have all the steps down, except for the lifts which he keeps putting off for later. He watches you do it on your own, and although he admits you know it in and out, he said there’s still something missing. The pang of disappointment you feel at his words soon turns into anticipation as he comes to stand in front of you, closer than usual, and brings your hand to his chest, keeping both of his own over yours.

“Feel this?” he says, voice almost a whisper. By now, you’ve gotten used to the intensity with which he always stares at you, but this time seems different; there’s something more vulnerable, more intimate about his gaze, something you don’t quite understand. You just stare right back at him, unable to look away.

You aren’t sure what he means so you lightly shake your head no. “Here,” he insists, pressing your hand more firmly to his chest, and it clicks. He wants you to feel his heartbeat. Your eyebrows jump slightly, and his lips form a small smile at your realization. “Close your eyes.” he says softly, and you do as told. 

“The steps aren’t enough, Baby. You have to feel the music. It’s within you, it’s within me, it’s within all of us. You just gotta find it.” This was something you’d heard a lot of times before, said by singers on the radio, by some of your friends in the high school choir - that they felt the music. But you’d never quite understood what they meant until now, until Sunghoon showed you. With two fingers, he starts tapping against the back of your hand to the rhythmic beat of his heart. 

“Du-dum, du-dum. Feel it now?” he asks, and you nod, too transfixed to produce actual words. His smile widens, and your heart swells because of his expression, more affectionate than you’ve ever seen it. 

“Now dance.”

Your body moves as if of its own accord, the moves now ingrained in your muscles and coming as a reflex to you. Together, you go through the whole routine with no music. You hadn’t needed to check yourself in the mirror to know you did perfectly - the smile on Sunghoon’s face tells you enough.

When the evening rolls around, there’s a lightness to your demeanor that both confuses and delights your parents, but even if they asked you to explain what happened, you don’t think you’d be able to find the words to do so.

-

Sure, Sunghoon doesn’t look at you like he hates you with every fiber of his being anymore, and he even dares crack a smile or laugh once in a while, but it’s not like you’re the best of friends either. There are still moments when he gets frustrated with you - one of those being the time you practice the opening of the routine. He hadn’t yet taught you that part, but as soon as he showed it to you, you understood why.

You stand back to him, heads turned towards each other. Your heights match perfectly so that, when standing so close together, his lips are right in your eyeline. His beautiful, plump, kissable lips that you find yourself thinking about too many times.

Your left arm stays by your side but your right arm is raised so that he can trail his fingertips all the way from your hand down to your waist - a sensual move that, despite setting the tone for the routine, you are not at all ready to perform. Not because it requires any kind of complex technique or years of practice, far from that, but because you don’t yet have the professionalism that Sunghoon, Chaewon and other performers like them have. Nevermind his fingers brushing past your armpit, which is obviously a ticklish place, you can’t handle the seriousness that comes with such intimacy, nor can you resist the urge to laugh every time. This, of course, does not please Sunghoon.

The first couple times it happens, he just rolls his eyes and sighs, thinking you just need to get your head in the dance and then you’d be fine. So he gets back into position, again, again, and again, and even though your full-blown laughters turn into quieter snorts or chuckles, you still can’t find it in you to keep a straight face. 

After the sixth time, his patience runs out. You can tell he wants to blow up at you by the redness of his face and the iciness of his stare, but when he speaks, he doesn’t raise his voice - his tone is so harsh that there’s no need for it. 

“You pull yourself together, or we’re done here.”

Whether he means you’re done for the day, or completely done with the practice, meaning all your efforts this week go to waste and you don’t perform on Saturday, you aren’t sure, but you don’t think this is the right time to question him. You get back into position, and finally, on the seventh try, you don’t laugh. After so many times, his touch doesn’t tickle so much - rather, it burns. Now, instead of resisting laughter, you have to keep yourself from completely melting under his touch.

But then, you realize that this is what you’ve been daydreaming about this whole time - to have him close, to have him touch you. Even though this was still part of the routine, the point of this move was to show the chemistry between the two dancers, the attraction they needed to, or at least pretend to, have for each other to take the performance from good to mesmerizing. Good thing you didn’t need to pretend.

Of course, Sunghoon has touched your waist and shoulders thousands of times by now, but after so many days together, you start to crave a different kind of touch, and in different places. You never let yourself relish too much in the warmth of his palms for fear of getting too used to it, and, worse than anything, missing it when he’s gone - as if that wasn’t already the case. But with this opening move, you can finally let yourself melt under his touch and play it off as being really into the dance. If anything, he’d probably be glad you’re letting your reserves go.

And so you do. Eyes closed, head tilted towards him and slightly back, revealing more of your neck, you feel his fingertips brush along your side until they reach your hand, and you start dancing. For the two minutes of the routine, you aren’t even thinking of the steps anymore, only looking into his eyes and letting your muscle memory do the work for you.

At the end, you stay in the final pose for a few seconds longer than usual, looking into each other’s eyes. Sunghoon isn’t the most expressive person ever, so you’d quickly learned how to decipher the slightest changes in his face. In this moment, he looks at you like he sees you for the first time, really sees you, with something like pride in his eyes. You smile at each other, and his next words make your heart skip a beat in surprise at first, then swell in satisfaction.

“I think that was the best you’ve danced so far. If you do it like this on Saturday night, it’ll be perfect.”

-

However, there’s one last thing you needed to learn: lifts. Sunghoon has been putting them off almost the whole week, saying you’d get to them later, that you needed to get the other steps down before. There are two in the routine, and whenever one comes up, Sunghoon says “that’s for later,” and keeps going with the dance. Except later never comes, and soon enough, you only have a day left to learn and perfect those lifts. The stress of not mastering them on time starts to get to your head, and your stress must be contagious, because Sunghoon explodes for the first (and only) time on Friday afternoon when you make a mistake in the basic steps.

“Are you kidding me?” he suddenly yells, taking a wide step back away from you and looking at you with uncharacteristic anger. Sure, he wasn’t always the most pleasant with you, and you were no stranger to Sunghoon’s expressions of or dislike, but you hadn’t seen anger on him until now. No matter how beautiful he is, you have to admit this isn’t his best look.

“What?” you respond, voice at the same level as his, not understanding his sudden burst of impatience.

“What?! This is a basic step you shouldn’t even be thinking about anymore, let alone not get right. The performance is tomorrow, you can’t be making stupid mistakes now!” He sighs in frustration and tears his gaze away from you for a moment, then looks back, his eyes hard. “Is this your idea of fun?”

You scoff and cross your arms over your chest. “My idea of fun? You really think I’m doing this for fun?” He doesn’t say anything, just keeps on staring at you. “I’ve been breaking my back and sneaking around for almost a whole week just to save your ass, I don’t get anything out of it, and you have the nerve to ask me if I’m doing this for fun?” You can see he wants to say something, but you don’t let him. “Oh, and I’m glad you seem to remember the performance is tomorrow, because I’ll have you know you still haven’t taught me those damn lifts! How can you get mad at me for a small mistake when you won’t even teach me the whole routine?!”

You’re out of breath after screaming so loud and so quickly, but still Sunghoon doesn’t move for a few seconds, until suddenly, he pivots and walks towards the door. At the threshold, he turns to you and tells you to follow him, as if that should have been obvious. He doesn’t give you any time for questions so you run after him. Outside, a heavy summer rain is coming down, and your clothes are soaked through after just ten seconds. You walk a few steps behind him as he heads to his car, muttering a curse under his breath when he realizes he’s forgotten his keys inside the locked vehicle. You let out a small shriek when he breaks one of the backseat windows to open the door from inside, reaching for his keys still resting in the ignition. You just stand there, watching him in confusion, until he calls to you from the driver’s seat. “C’mon! There’s a place I need to show you.”

You know it’s a bad idea - you’ve already been gone for over an hour, and if you leave with him for God knows how much longer, your parents would start to wonder where you are. But there’s something about his face, his anger that had completely disappeared and let way for what seemed like excitement, the rain pouring down and the loud sound of his car’s motor; it all creates a rush of adrenaline in you, and you want to know what he has in store. So you get in the car, and as soon as you’re buckled in, Sunghoon backs out of the parking lot and starts driving, the destination completely unknown to you, but you trust him enough to not be bothered by that.

The two of you drive for around ten minutes in comfortable silence, sometimes catching the other’s eye in the rearview mirror and bursting into giggles. You don’t know why, but when you open your window and let your arm out, letting out a big whoop, he laughs like it’s the most amazing thing he’s ever seen.

In the week you spend together with Sunghoon, these are the moments you love the most. When he’s seemingly let go of his barriers and lets you see a side of him that you don’t think many people get access to, a side to which laughter comes easy. Although it gives you whiplash when he so suddenly goes back to his serious and stonelike nature, you’d rather get glimpses of his carefree self than forever be stuck with the face he usually puts on with you. You aren’t sure if he is always one or the other with other people, or if he keeps his tendency to almost switch personalities with everyone, but you’re just glad it doesn’t feel like he’d always prefer to be somewhere else than with you anymore - and that it almost feels like he enjoys, or at the very least tolerates spending time in your company now.

He parks in what seems to be the middle of nowhere, on a small patch of gravel between the road and a forest, right before a bridge that crosses over a current. He gets out and starts towards what looks like a forest, telling you good-humoredly to hurry up and follow him. The rain has calmed down to a drizzle, gentle as it falls on your shoulders and a refreshing break from the sweltering heat of the past few days. Faster than you expected, you’ve reached your destination, which is a point where the current is calm and a wide trunk tree crosses it. You have no idea how Sunghoon ever found this place, but you’ve never seen him wear such an ecstatic expression, so you don’t even question it.

He takes his shoes off and gets on the tree trunk, spreading his arms wide to keep himself from falling. You sit down, one leg on each side of the trunk, and watch amusedly as he titters and regains his balance, sending sheepish smiles your way when he gets close to plummeting into the water. 

“Where’d you learn to dance?” you ask suddenly, the question forming in your head and leaving your lips simultaneously.

He considers you for a second, then plops himself down on the trunk, letting his legs sway over the emptiness. He looks out to the current when he speaks, as if talking to the air around him rather than directly to you. “I lived and went to school in a low-income neighborhood, so there were always these people coming and going, trying to get kids like us to start working and get out of the neighborhood, or make it better or something. One day these people came in, saying they were giving out lessons to become a dance instructor, and it was the only one that ever caught my interest. I did it, aced the test, and they gave me a spot here that I managed to keep every summer. Haven’t wanted to do anything else since.” He looks back at you and you catch a glimpse of cautiousness, perhaps a fear of finding judgment in your eyes, but his expression turns friendly again when he finds only curiosity and sympathy there.

“What about the rest of the year? Do you also have a teaching job back home?” you ask, daring to go further in your interrogation of Sunghoon’s personal life. Just a few days ago, you’d never have dreamed of asking him something like this, but there’s something about him today that makes you think it’s okay to get closer, if you tread lightly.

He snickers humorlessly and looks down at his hands, palms resting on the trunk in front of him. “I’m lucky I get to escape that place just three months a year when I’m working here. Otherwise, I’m stuck with the old man and his carpenting business I’m fated to inherit when he retires.” Before you can say anything in response, he jumps back up on his feet and holds a hand out to you, making a motion for you to come to him. You’re slightly taken aback at the sudden switch in his demeanor, but you know better than to force anything with Sunghoon. “We didn’t come here to chit-chat, did we? Come over here.”

Devilish - there’s no other word to describe his expression at that moment.

“Nuh-uh, I’m not getting on there, I’m gonna fall and break an ankle,” you immediately protest, but he doesn’t need to say anything, just approaches you with a mischievous smile and reaches his hands out to you - and you take them, letting him bring you to your feet.

You climb up tentatively, glad to see the trunk isn’t slippery even after the rain, and hold on tight to Sunghoon’s hands until you’ve managed to find your own balance. “Okay, what now?” you say breathily, half-paralyzed in terror and half-pumped with adrenaline.

“Let’s dance,” he says, a playful smile teasing his lips.

“What, here?” you reply, looking at him like he suggested you rob a bank.

“Yes, here.” He grabs your hand tighter and brings you closer to him, securing an arm around your waist before you can stumble off of the trunk. It’s definitely your near-death experience and not his proximity that makes your heart beat faster, definitely.

He quietly hums the song, but you’ve heard it so many times at this point that you could do the dance with no music at all. More than dancing the same steps, there’s something electrifying about knowing that the same song is playing in your and Sunghoon’s heads right now. You wonder if he feels it playing in his heart too.

What you’re doing isn’t quite dancing - you’re just taking small, careful, clumsy steps together, giggling as you try to stay atop the trunk and letting out a yelp when he attempts to spin you but it only results in you two almost falling off. He holds you close as if making sure that if one of you goes down, the other goes down with them. Your face is right in front of his chest, and when you risk a look up at him, he’s already gazing down at you, his playfulness making the light in his eyes shine even brighter. 

Your breath hitches in your throat when his eyes drift down to your lips, moving as you talk, but you still manage to get the words out, whispering them in the small space between the two of you. “You’re supposed to teach me lifts, aren’t you?” 

“Yeah. Let’s go,” he whispers back, but makes no move to leave the trunk or distance himself from you.

“Okay,” you breathe. You repeat the word and take a step back, somehow gathering the will to tear yourself away from him, from his eyes fixated on your parted lips. “Let’s go.”

He leads you back through the woods to a wide clearing. After the downpour of the early afternoon, the sun is starting to shine again, rays of light making their way through the grayish clouds and high pines, and bathing your surroundings in a comforting glow. Sunghoon stands facing the sun, and the sunlight hits his face so perfectly, you have to keep yourself from snorting at how ridiculously handsome he is.

The only instructions he gives you are as follows: “You’ve seen lifts before. You know you just run to me to gather momentum, then when you’re close enough, bend your knees and keep your core and whole body tight as I lift you. But the most important thing is that you trust me, alright? If you don’t, we could both get hurt.”

The first few times, you just practice the running and the picking up, not wanting to venture into the actual overhead lift right away. It’s easy enough - just find the right distance, the right speed, and remember not to let your body go limp in Sunghoon’s hands.

But when you’ve gotten the hang of it, and Sunghoon tells you to try the complete lift, you freeze. You just stop right in front of him, looking at him with wide eyes. “This is too scary, I can’t do it.”

To your surprise, instead of letting out an annoyed sigh or rolling his eyes, Sunghoon smiles. His eyes go soft and the corners of his lips tug up.

“What’s scary?”

“Falling. Getting hurt, hurting you,” you say, looking into his eyes with the hope that he’ll make all your anxieties go away.

“Don’t think about those things. Don’t think about anything, just trust me. Let yourself be picked up first, and then we’ll worry about your form and how to keep it, okay?”

“O-okay.” You walk a few steps back to regain some distance, and he nods reassuringly as you take a deep breath in, and a deep breath out. You run to him, and as if his words had gone straight from his mouth to your limbs, you let him lift you - and the world looks so different from this high up.

You marvel at the feeling of floating in the air, but you quickly start to feel yourself slipping forward, and Sunghoon is yelling “Hold it, hold it!” and before you know it, you’ve dipped forward and fallen right on top of him. Thankfully, it was a slow fall, and he had time to soften the blow, so that the immediate reaction from the both of you is to burst into laughter.

You roll over so that you’re laying on your back next to him and rest your palms on your stomach, feeling it shake with laughter. Once you’ve calmed down, you turn your head towards him and he imitates you a second later. You probably look like idiots, out-of-breath and smiling widely at each other in this field, but there isn’t a thing you would change about this moment.

“Do you know what the best place to practice lifts is?” he asks, and you watch how his dimples disappear and reappear as he talks. You shake your head. His dimples deepen. “The water.”

You change locations again, heading back towards the current and finding the lake it stems from. You and Sunghoon turn your backs to each other as he takes his t-shirt off and you, your denim shorts, not wanting them to weigh you down in the water. When you turn back around, you have to force yourself to detach your eyes from his perfectly defined abs and shoulders thanks to years of dancing and physical exertion almost every day. You stare out at the lake like it’s the first time you’ve ever seen so much water, otherwise you’d be gawking at him like it’s the first time you’ve ever seen a man. Your cheeks burn up when you feel his eyes on your legs, taking your half-naked figure in, and he chuckles as you rush to hide yourself in the water.

Once in the water, you practice the actual lift, which consists of Sunghoon hoisting you high above his head and you keeping a straight posture, with your arms perpendicular to your body and your chest slightly lifted as if you were truly soaring through the air. It already looks difficult, and yet it’s even harder than it looks. It does help being in the water because at least you’re not scared for your life when you lose your balance and dive forward, but you let out a yelp nonetheless each time it happens. Sunghoon keeps on telling you to hold your posture, but each attempt ends in you falling into the water and bringing him down with you.

You drift apart and swim back towards each other every time, your arms wrapping around his neck and his hands coming to your hips to get back into position for the lift. You’re having a lot of fun, too much fun, probably, when the performance is just a day away - but getting to see Sunghoon’s smile and hear his laugh as you play around and try your best at the lift makes it worth it. When the strap of your tank top slips over your shoulder, you notice out of the corner of your eye Sunghoon’s hand reaching for it just as you put it back yourself. He plays it off by raking a hand through his wet hair, getting it out of his eyes, and smiles shyly at you when your gazes lock. You have no idea what’s going to happen after the performance, if you’ll stay friends or if he’ll pretend like this never even happened - all you know is that you’d be happy doing this all summer.

“One last time?”

-

And just like that, it’s late Saturday afternoon and the performance is just an hour away. You barely eat or speak during dinner, partly out of nervousness, but mostly because you want your lie of having a headache and needing to rest in your room more believable. Chaewon had said she’d help you put your dress on and get ready before the show, so when you’ve escaped the dinner table, you rush to her cabin.

But just as you exit the building, an old woman you recognize as Mrs Jung walks in. She must be surprised at your sudden appearance because she slightly bumps into the door and drops her bag. An unusual amount of wallets fall from it, but you don’t think too much of it - you’ve seen rich people do weirder things. 

You bend down to help her gather her things, and she chuckles lightly, thanking you. “Such a sweet girl, isn’t she, Harold?” she says to her husband who had appeared behind the door as well. You wish them a nice evening and part ways, gushing to yourself over how cute old couples are as you head to the Chaewon’s cabin.

She does your hair, pulling it into a tight bun and securing every stray strand with a bobby pin. You have no experience with makeup since it’s always been off-limits in your house, so she expertly applies eyeshadow, mascara and lipstick to your face. The sticky feel of it is unfamiliar but once you look in the mirror, you almost can’t look away. It’s still you, of course it is, but the bright colors make you look glamorous, like performing in front of a large crowd is just routine for you. You thank Chaewon, a huge smile on her face, and watch her own light up in relief that you like the makeup.

As she zips your dress up, a flowy baby pink dress she got out of her closet just for you, you repeat back all the instructions Sunghoon has given you over the week to make sure you remember everything. “I just gotta keep my head up, keep my core and my arms straight, follow the mu-”

“Thank you, Baby,” Chaewon quietly interrupts, and the slight tremble in her voice and the vulnerability with which she looks at you lets you know she really means it. You stop your declamation immediately and smile at her, kindness in your eyes.

She looks down and tries to find her words. “You know, I- I just want you to know that I, I don’t sleep around, and Heeseung, I really thought he loved me, and-”

You can see the tears already forming in her eyes so you bring her into a tight hug, resting your cheek against the side of her head. “I know, Chaewon, don’t worry. And even if you did sleep around, it wouldn’t matter, Heeseung should take responsibility no matter what. We’re all here to help you. Don’t worry.” You lean back to hold her face in your hands and try to give as reassuring a smile as you can.

“I’m scared, Baby,” she whispers, trying to calm her sobs to get the words out.

“Everything’s gonna be fine, Chaewon,” you say, and you hope she believes it as much as you do. “Everything’s gonna be just fine. You’ve got Sunghoon, and Jake, and you’ve got me too.” 

She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath in. When she opens them again, she grabs your hands and shakes them between the two of you, mirroring your smile. “Okay, okay,” she murmurs. “Sorry, this isn’t the best time for me to break down. You feeling ready?” she asks, and even if it’s just for now, you’re glad she’s feeling better and got to let her emotions out.

“Not at all, I’m so nervous. I don’t want to mess something up and let you or Sunghoon down,” you admit, your smile wavering for a second.

“Whatever happens, you won’t let us down,” she says, squeezing your hands. “It’s amazing, what you’re doing.” 

You can’t help but look away at her words. “It’s the least I can do,” you mumble.

“No, Baby, you’re doing more than most people would. And Sunghoon, he might have his own way of showing it, but he’s extremely grateful for you,” she says, and it puts a smile on your face.

“By his own way of showing it, do you mean not showing it at all?” you joke.

“That’s Sunghoon for you.” You giggle quietly together, but her eyes drift to the clock on the wall behind you and she lets out a sigh. “It’s time, Baby. And don’t worry, I know you’ll do amazing,” she says, bringing you into a brief hug.

You’re so nervous, everything that follows is a blur - leaving Chaewon’s cabin and sneaking over to Sunghoon’s car, the drive to the Sheldrake Hotel, the staff there leading you backstage, and finding your spot on the stage. You only snap out of it when the curtains lift and a voice booms from the speakers in the room, announcing “Sunghoon Park and partner dancing the mambo” as the audience breaks into polite claps.

The music starts, and Sunghoon can immediately feel the tension in your body. He trails his fingers all the way down your arm to your waist, just like you’d practiced a ton of times before, and he uses the proximity between the two of you to whisper “Relax” into your ear. “Just follow my lead, you’ve got this,” he says, loud enough for only you to hear, and extends his arm to send you spinning. 

You manage the first few steps, trying to let go of your anxiety, but it’s got a tight grip on your body and makes your stomach twist. You think it’s all over when you mess up a turn, going right instead of left, but Sunghoon’s quick to whisper “over here” and you find your way again. “Look at me,” Sunghoon says once you’re facing each other again, and you lock eyes with him. And for some reason, that works - focusing only on him makes you feel like it’s just the two of you in the room, just like so many times this past week, and it dissipates all your nerves, makes your muscle memory kick in. You finally let him lead you and follow the music, thinking of nothing but Sunghoon and dancing together.

And yet, when it’s time for the lift, you freeze again. You find your position and run to Sunghoon, just like you know you’re supposed to, but you can’t let him lift you, your limbs turning into lead in his hold. Thinking quickly, you come up with another step on the spot, hoping it isn’t too obvious to the audience you just messed up. Sunghoon takes the lead again, and the rest of the performance goes smoothly, the other moves and the smaller, easier lift realized perfectly by the both of you.

You finish off the number, and the sound of the applause directed at the two of you fills you with a pride you’d never felt before, a feeling much more satisfying than any good grade or won argument ever had. Another sort of daze fills your mind now, and it makes you feel like there’s a small cloud under your feet so that you’re floating instead of walking everywhere. It almost makes you miss the Jungs, but when you see the old couple slowly walking out of the room, you’re scared you might be done for.

You rush back to the parking lot with Sunghoon, whooping in excitement as soon as you're out of anyone’s earshot. In the backseat, you change out of your dress and back into your regular clothes.

“God, that was- that was amazing, I can’t believe you get to live this every week during the summer, it was just- my God…” you say, struggling to get your right hand through the sleeve of your blouse.

“Yeah? Did you have fun?” Sunghoon answers, a smile on his face that turns into a gulp when he sees your half-naked body in the rearview mirror. He can’t help but risk a few more glances, hoping you don’t notice.

“I did, I really did, but I- I messed up that one turn, and I didn’t do the lift-”

“That doesn’t matter,” Sunghoon says firmly. “You did real good, Baby.” And after a beat, he adds: “Thank you. You did real good.” Your eyes lock in the mirror but you look away before he can catch sight of your reddening cheeks.

“And oh my God, there was that couple, the, the-”

“The Jungs, right? Yeah, I saw them too,” Sunghoon chuckles. “I got so scared.”

“Right? Me too! They won’t say anything, will they, do you think?”

“Probably not. I don’t think they even recognized either of us.”

You button your jeans and climb your way over to the passenger seat next to Sunghoon, grateful for the lack of headrests in his car. It suddenly grows quiet between the two of you. You want to ask whether you’ll keep meeting now that you’ve done your part, but you’re afraid Sunghoon might want to have nothing to do with you from now on even if it doesn’t seem like he dislikes you anymore. So you stay silent, watching out of the window, sometimes turning your head towards Sunghoon and catching his eye, then smiling at each other shyly.

Something in you is screaming at you to reach out to him, brush a hand over his hair, interlace your fingers with his - any kind of touch. You thought the ball of nerves in your stomach would disappear after the show, but it’s still there, and it’s taken hold of your entire body now, the anticipation of whatever is to come almost unbearable. You notice Sunghoon’s gaze ping-ponging between you and the road, and the tightness with which he holds the steering wheel, and you dare let yourself hope, just a little bit, that he shares those same wild thoughts jumping around your mind.

When you reach the parking lot next to the staff quarters, Sunghoon is quick to get out of the car, while you rub at your eyes and lips, trying to get as much makeup off as you can. Your parents would most likely be in bed by now, but just in case they were still up, you didn’t want them to catch you with bright red lips and blue eyelids. Sunghoon walks around to your side and opens your door for you, even grabbing your hand to help you out of the car. Once you’re out, he takes your other hand in his, facing you as he walks slowly backwards, and with the way he’s gazing down at you, you think those unspoken thoughts might finally come into the light. But before either of you can say anything, you hear quick footsteps rushing towards you, and a familiar voice calling out to Sunghoon.

He swings around to find a panting, alarmed-looking Jake. “Sunghoon, it’s- it’s Chaewon, something went wrong, she’s not feeling well-”

Neither of you need to hear more before you’re running to the cabin, reaching it in record time. There’s way more people than there should be in and outside Chaewon’s room, all watching and doing absolutely nothing except for another girl you recognise as part of the dancing crew holding a wet cloth to her head as Chaewon, her face covered in sweat and her eyes shut tight in pain, moans and mumbles incoherently, slightly delirious from fever. The girl at her bed steps aside when she sees Sunghoon approaching, and he kneels next to Chaewon, holding her hand in both of his and reassuring her as best she can.

“It’s that doctor,” Jake starts, “he was so shady, had a folding table and a dirty knife, and I- I heard screams coming from that room, Hoon, awful screams, and I tried getting in and getting Chaewon out but they wouldn’t let me-”

What’s obvious to you right now is that Chaewon is in desperate need of an actual doctor, and nobody here can provide that for her, so you rush out of the room, and, as fast as your legs can carry you, run to your father and wake him up in a hurry, grabbing his doctor’s bag. You’re glad for your father’s blind trust in you - other than an instinctive “Is Seeun alright?”, which you nod your head at, he doesn’t ask any questions, just sees you need his help. He listens to your unclear and frantic explanations of what’s going on as he follows you to the staff cabin. 

“Alright, out of the way, everyone, give the girl some space,” your father says as he enters Chaewon’s room, the way he carries himself and speaks instantly commanding obedience from the group. People filter out as he takes Sunghoon’s spot next to Chaewon, checking her pulse and temperature. “Who’s responsible for this lady?” he asks without looking away from his patient.

“I am,” Sunghoon says, taking a step towards him. “Is she gonna be okay?” He seems so distressed you want to take him into your arms and tell him it’ll be okay, but you can’t do that - not here, not in front of your dad.

Your father turns his head to take a look at Sunghoon, his expression unreadable, then turns back to Chaewon, leaving Sunghoon’s question unanswered, floating in the air ominously.

He makes you all leave the room, and you wait for what feels like hours until your father finally comes out, his briefcase in hand, and announces that Chaewon just needs some rest and then she’d be okay. He lets Jake thank him and shake his hand agitatedly, but once again just stares Sunghoon down and ignores him when he tries to do the same. He takes you by the shoulder, making you walk away with him without saying goodbye to anyone. He’s silent for a few moments, waiting to have gone down a few steps before he speaks, and when he does, his voice is tense and almost trembles with anger.

“Is this what my money paid for? I’m disappointed in you, Baby. You’re not who I thought you were.” He doesn’t even let you defend yourself, just keeps walking without looking at you. “I don’t want you to hang around those people anymore, do you understand?”

“But dad-”

“I don’t want to hear it,” he says firmly, and the slight increase of volume catches you off guard. Not once has your dad raised his voice at you, or at least not since you were a child - that’s how you understand how truly upset he is at you. He finally turns around to look at you, his eyebrows furrowed. “And get that stuff off of your face before your mother sees it.”

The rest of the walk back to your bungalow is done in unbearable, utter silence, and you can’t wait to be away from your father and the anger pouring off of him in waves. But that silence doesn’t seem to go away, even when you finally reach your bed, even when your sister starts snoring quietly, completely oblivious to the events of the night. The silence grows so loud in your ears that it creates a fuzz all around your brain, making your head throb and blurring your thoughts, rendering them incomprehensible. The sheer weight of it forces your eyelids closed even though you don’t feel tired at all - there’s too much going on in your mind for you to fall asleep.

There’s the relief of your father having helped Chaewon, and the knowledge that she’ll be okay thanks to him; but there’s also the image of his disappointed expression etched into your brain and the words “You’re not who I thought you were” playing on a hellish loop. There’s the worry he won’t ever see you the way he used to, that you won’t be his little girl anymore, but there’s also the satisfaction of that exact thing, the liberation that comes with your father finally realizing you’re not perfect and make mistakes too.

And then there’s Sunghoon.

There’s Sunghoon, and his concern for Chaewon’s safety, his love for his friend that he’s known for years, the hurt on his face when your dad didn’t shake his hand, and the way he quickly retracted his own thereafter, a defeated expression like he was used to such disrespect. But before that, there’s his dimpled smile and sharp canines you find weirdly endearing, the carefree sound of his laughter after you fall on top of him in the water, his warm hands guiding you from step to step, the quick glimpses he throws your way when he thinks you’re not looking but hopes that you are. Even before that, there were the ice-covered walls he put around himself and his friends that could melt as quickly as they could freeze back up, until finally one day he opened the door for you to come in. There was the elegance in his moves and the feeling like all the air in the room had evaporated when you watched him dance, only for it to fill you back up when he took you by the hand and showed you how to let yourself go for the first time.

The fog in your mind clears at the thought of him, like sunlight forcing its way through gray clouds after a thunderstorm. You need to see him.

You need to check on him, to make sure he’s feeling alright, and laugh with him if he is or cry if he isn’t. You need to hold his head between your palms and graze a hand through his hair and do and say all the things you’ve been wanting to this week.

You climb out of your bed and grab the first cardigan you see, then slip your shoes on and make your way to the front door. You try to be as quiet as possible, but once outside, you hang back just for a few moments in case anyone has heard you leaving, so that if they come to check, you can just say you’re getting some fresh air on the front porch. No one seems to stir so you rush to Sunghoon’s cabin. It’s past midnight and the only light guiding you is that of the stars and the bright moon up above.

When Sunghoon opens his door, he seems at once relieved and surprised to find you there. “Baby,” he simply says, gazing down at you. He looks so tired, you think. The performance at the Sheldrake was just a few hours ago, but it already feels so far away.

“Hey. Can I- can I come in?” you ask, slightly out-of-breath from your walking so fast.

“Yeah, yeah, of course,” he says, turning his body to let you in his cabin. Since your first time here, that night you’d found Chaewon crying in the kitchen, you’d learned more about this place. Thanks to his seniority here, Sunghoon has a separate studio-like cabin further down the path where all the staff bungalows are, and it’s bigger than most of them, even though it’s still just one room that accommodates his bed, a closet, a desk, a sink and some other chairs, shelves and drawers.

A soft song is playing in the background and the main light is off, the small lamps here and there providing enough light for you to see. You hadn’t at all thought to look around when you were here last, so you’re curious to really see what Sunghoon’s living space is like.

You walk further into the room, taking in your surroundings and reveling in all the traces of Sunghoon’s life - discarded clothes here and there, a stack of record players from the early fifties to now, posters of movie stars and famous singers, some photos of him with Jake, Chaewon and other members of the entertainment team. He looks around like he’s seeing the room for the first time too, maybe trying to see it through your eyes and imagining what you could be thinking of it. He picks up clothes from the floor and from an armchair only to throw them in his closet, gesturing for you to sit down, and rubs the back of his neck in what seems like an embarrassed gesture.

“It’s not much… you’re probably used to a lot better…” he says with an apologetic tone.

“No, no, it’s great,” you say quickly, not wanting him to feel embarrassed. You look at him with a smile. “I love it here.”

He mirrors your smile, letting out a shaky breath of relief, then sits down at the edge of his bed, too far away for   your liking. The tense atmosphere from earlier in the car is back, filling the room with the silence of a thousand unspoken words. A beat passes before you speak up. “I’m sorry about the way my father treated you, Sunghoon. It wasn’t nice.”

Sunghoon looks genuinely shocked upon hearing your words and starts to shake his head fervently. “No, no, your father was great, the- the way he took care of Chaewon, I could never do anything like that in my life, he was amazing.”

“Yes, but I’m talking about you, Sunghoon, not Chaewon. He completely ignored you, he should have treated you with more respect.” His eyes find yours, and the look on his face like he wants to believe you but can’t quite bring himself to makes your heart ache.

He chuckles and lets his head hang low, looking down at his hands. “Why should he? I’m- I’m nothing,” he says quietly, so quietly that you think you might have misheard, because never in a hundred years would you have thought that someone like Sunghoon could think so lowly of himself.

Your surprise makes it hard to gather your words and say something coherent, but you try your best. “What- Sunghoon, how could you say that? You’re not nothing, you’re- you’re everything,” you say, the last word coming out breathy.

He looks at you like he’s never heard those words before, never had somebody tell him he was so much more than he thought he was - but maybe that’s because he’d never told anyone how he really felt. A pained expression flashes across his face, and you’re scared you might’ve said the wrong thing but his next words reassure you that that’s not it.

“You don’t understand… One month, I’m living off of scraps and struggling to make ends meet, and the next, rich ladies are stuffing hundred dollar bills in my pockets and giving me the key to their room. Everywhere I am, people just use me to get what they need. My dad basically forces me to work with him and doesn’t give a crap what I really want, the women here use me to escape the boredom of their lives, and Max and his asshole grandson Jay just want me to make as much money as I can so they can get even richer.” His voice gets louder the more he talks, the anger getting to him. He chuckles darkly, but his expression softens when he catches your gaze. “I have to live like this. If I start thinking I deserve more, that I- that I’m everything, like you say, I’ll never be satisfied. I’ll always want more. I can’t handle that.”

“It doesn’t have to be that way. It shouldn’t be that way,” you say quietly, shaking your head and looking at him sadly. You don’t know how to make him see that for the joy he brings everyone who gets to see him dance, for the care and safety he gives the people he loves, and the way he’s made you feel like you can finally escape the thoughts in your head, he deserves everything he wants in the world. You don’t know how to make him see his worth and the respect he deserves as much as anyone else.

He smiles at you wistfully, like he can see his own, long-gone, naive hopefulness on your face. “I’ve never met anyone like you, Baby. You look at the world and you think you can make it better.”

It’s your turn to chuckle humorlessly. “Yeah, I run to my daddy, like you said.”

“No,” he says firmly, his tone catching you off guard. “No, that took a lot of guts, doing what you did. I love that about you, you just go ahead and do things. You didn’t even know Chaewon, and yet you learned a whole professional routine in a week just because you wanted to and you could. And now you risked your relationship with your father just to help her out once again. You- you’re not scared of anything!”

“Me? I’m scared of everything!” you cry out, suddenly standing up, the emotions boiling in your stomach making you unable to sit any longer. “I’m scared of the disappointment in my parents’ eyes, of failing school, of being stuck in a life I can’t escape from…” Your gaze travels around the room before it settles on Sunghoon once again, your gazes locking each other in so tightly you don’t know if you’ll ever be able to look away. “But most of all,” you continue, voice shaky and desperate, “I’m scared of leaving this place and never, ever feeling again the way I do when I’m with you.”

His jaw tightens and he has to force himself to look away from you, his eyes focusing on a random object in the corner of the room. With the way he huffs air through his nose and tenses his whole body, he almost looks angry, but you know that’s not it - finally, after a week of torturous hesitation and not-knowing, you understand how Sunghoon feels about you. He feels just like you. All those lingering gazes, those small shocks of electricity whenever you touched, those loud heartbeats at his constant proximity, he felt them too, and it drove him crazy too; you’re sure of it.

Or at least, almost sure of it. And there’s only one way to confirm your suspicions.

Sunghoon thinks you’re not scared of anything, so you’re going to prove it to yourself. You take a step towards him, then another one, and another one, until you’re standing right in front of him. You extend a hand out to him and he doesn’t question it, just takes it and rises, now towering over you as you had over him just a second ago. You’re as close as you usually are when you dance together - or perhaps a bit closer than that.

“Dance with me,” you whisper into the space between your bodies.

“What, here?” he whispers back, finally looking at you. His gaze lingers in your eyes before dropping to your lips, his pupils slowly dilating - there’s your confirmation. 

“Yes, here,” you reply, echoing your conversation on the tree trunk, which somehow was only yesterday.

You wrap your arms around his neck just as his hands come up to hold you by the waist. It’s a position you’ve found yourselves in a hundred times by now, but tonight, it feels so different. The air around you is charged with electricity and all of your moves are purposeful, trying to make the other feel all that you’re feeling with just a touch.

Tight in each other’s arms, you sway to the slow rhythm of the music, your head resting in the crook of his neck while his hands travel from your waist, to your shoulder blades, back down to your hips. Even with two layers of clothing between your bodies, the feeling of having him so close sends shivers down your spine, even though your skin burns everywhere it comes into contact with him. Your breath makes goosebumps appear on the side of his neck, and when his grip on your hips tightens, you take it as a green light to start pressing faint kisses to his skin. He bunches the fabric of your blouse in his hands, slowly pulling it from the confines of your jeans and over your head, making you raise your arms. He makes a ball out of your top and throws it somewhere across his room, his attention fully taken by the sight of your now half-naked body. He immediately discards his own t-shirt, putting his hands back on you as quickly as he can, as if scared you might suddenly disappear.

You go on dancing together, bodies moving in harmony, as if you’re one being rather than two. You let your hands travel over his shoulders and chest and rest them on his stomach as you lean your upper body backwards, trusting him to hold you while you circle your way back to him. When you do, his hands roam down to grab your ass and hike one of your legs around his hips, the friction of your pelvises rubbing together eliciting a heavy, relieved sigh from both of you.

Finally, your lips find each other, and you kiss like you’re each other’s sources of oxygen. Of course, Sunghoon is one of, if not the best, kissers you’ve ever had the honor of sharing a kiss with, because how could he be anything other than perfect? The way he kisses is intense and a little bit messy, and it ignites your whole body, making you crave only more and more until you’ve had everything you want. Your hands and his are restless, endlessly drifting over each other’s bodies, grabbing at shoulders or hips or strands of hair.

He walks backwards to his bed, never once breaking the passionate embrace, until the back of his legs hit the mattress. He sits, spreading his legs wide enough for you to stand between them. His face is right at the level of your chest, and the way he looks up at you as he presses hot, open-mouthed kisses there makes your insides burst and the fire in your core burn harder. Keeping eye contact with him is too much to handle, so you close your eyes and let your head back slightly, grazing your hands through the soft locks of his hair and simply enjoying the feeling of his mouth on you. His warm hands roam your lower back before traveling north to the clasp of your bra. He undoes it but doesn’t take it off - instead, he calls your name, and it’s never sounded better than on his lips.

“Baby?”

“Hm?” You look back down at him and find in his eyes a sort of lustful, dreamlike daze that you’re sure must reflect your own perfectly.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” he asks breathily, wanting to be certain this is okay for you, but sounding like it’d be the death of him if you said no.

You smile softly and take his head in your hands. “I’ve never been more sure of anything.”

He smiles too, exposing his sharp canines and pretty dimples, and sighs of relief. “Thank God.”

Your bra comes off, and you almost laugh when his pupils blow out at the sight of your naked chest, but your amusement dies, cut off by a loud moan as soon as he takes one of your nipples in his mouth, twirling his tongue around and sucking on the sensitive bud before moving on to the other one. One of his hands rests on your ass while his other arm is wrapped around your waist, and his grip on your waist tightens every time you make a sound that he particularly appreciates. You’re pulling at his hair so much, you’re almost scared of hurting him, but truth be told you’re too focused on the way his mouth feels on you to really be careful about it.

“Come here,” he says, voice hoarse. His jeans aren’t doing a very good job of hiding how hard he is, and he groans at the sudden contact when he pulls you down into his lap. You press kisses everywhere you can - his cheeks, the crook of his neck, his hair, before finding his lips once again. You don’t even realize you’re grinding yourself against him until he breaks away from the kiss to let out a quiet moan, and you bury your face in the dip between his shoulder and his neck, breath hot against his skin as you whine in pleasure.

You could do this for hours, and maybe you do - but at some point, you start needing something more and your core throbs, desperate for more attention. And what better way to communicate that to Sunghoon than to show him exactly what you want?

You unwrap your arms from around his shoulders and let your hand roam down to the waistband of his jeans, smiling shyly at him as you get down on your knees in front of him. He watches with a pained expression, like the anticipation of what you’ll do next actually hurts him, as you unbutton and unzip his jeans, then slide them along with his boxers down his legs. To distract from the fact that his size slightly intimidates you, you take him in your hand right away, circling his reddened tip with your thumb before starting to bring your palm up and down his shaft while your other hand rubs his thigh.

You’re absolutely breathtaken by the sight in front of you: Sunghoon’s abs tensing visibly at your ministrations, his head hung back and his neck and Adam’s apple flushed red on display for you, moans increasing in volume as you continue. You had a feeling Sunghoon wouldn’t be a quiet one, and you’re proud to be proven right.

You put your own needs aside for now, just wanting to see Sunghoon in as much pleasure as you can give him. You bring your head forward and lick a stripe up his length, satisfied when he lets out his loudest moan so far. You don’t tease for too long, only licking at his tip for a bit before taking more of him in your mouth. You keep one hand at the base of his shaft and swirl your tongue around the part you’re able to reach. 

This is the first time you’ve gotten so much pleasure from giving - maybe because Sunghoon’s reactions feed your ego, maybe because you’re so obsessed with him that knowing you’re making him feel good is enough, or maybe both. Definitely both.

But Sunghoon doesn’t let you have your fun for too long, and soon pulls your face gently away from him. His flushed face and fucked-out expression is gratifying to say the least. You look up at him with a smile, rubbing his thighs with your palms as you wait for him to catch his breath.

“A minute longer,” he says, panting, “and I would’ve died.” You giggle at his dramatics and hoist yourself back up, about to position yourself again on his lap but Sunghoon has other plans. He lays you down on your back and comes to rest on his side next to you, holding himself up on a forearm; that way he has both full access to and full view of your face and body. Perfect.

His face is close enough to yours to press kisses there and on your neck while his hand makes his way down your body. When it reaches the waistband of your jeans, you don’t wait for him to say or do anything and undo them yourself, which makes Sunghoon smirk.

“Impatient, are you?” he teases.

“You’re one to talk,” you bite back with a smile, even though your cheeks start to burn.

He slips a hand under your jeans, and gathers slick from between your folds before starting to rub small circles on your clit with the pads of two fingers. He soon gets frustrated from the way your clothes restrict his movements, and whispers in your ear, “Might as well take everything off while we’re at it, don’t you think?”

You roll your eyes at his playful tone but comply, more than happy to undress if it means he can touch with more ease. And indeed, he wastes no time before slipping a finger inside you, smirk widening at the loud half-gasp half-moan you let out at the feeling. “Much better,” he whispers again, but any comeback is wiped from your mind as he adds a second finger in, curling them so that they hit just the spot. You’re drenched at this point, your arousal sticking to the inside of your thighs, but that only makes it easier for him to slip his fingers in and out and means you’re more than ready for him. He keeps his thumb on your clit so that the friction there doesn’t stop either, and it isn’t long before you start to feel that familiar knot twisting your insides, appearing much quicker than you’d like it to.

“Sunghoon- I’m gonna, I’m-”

“You are, huh?” he breathes against your neck in between kisses. And just like that, as if you’d told him to stop and not that you were about to finish, he slips his fingers out of you, watching your reaction with a devilish, amused smirk.

“What? No, no-” you whine, but it’s no use. He rolls away from you, opening the drawer in his bedside table to retrieve something, and he’s lucky it’s a condom, because you might have killed him if it was anything else.

“Just because it’s our first time, I’m making you cum on my cock,” he explains as he rips open the small packet and puts the condom on. He comes back and places himself over you, pressing a kiss to your cheek and aligning himself with your entrance. “Next time, you’ll cum on my fingers and mouth as much as you want, Baby.”

And then, he pushes in.

You don’t need to tell him to go slow, or to wait before he starts moving; he knows. He holds himself up on his hands, biceps tight, and watches your face carefully for any sign of pain or discomfort while he furrows his way in, inch by inch.

When he finally bottoms out, he presses a soft kiss to your glistening hairline and bends down to whisper in your ear, “I’ve been thinking about this all week, and it’s even better than I imagined.”

The corners of your lips tug upwards, but the feeling of Sunghoon filling you up like this makes your brain go fuzzy and you can’t even begin to form coherent words or thoughts. You grab on to his biceps and shoulders as he starts to move back and forth, slowly at first, but progressively picking up speed, your moans egging him on.

He takes one of your legs and hikes it up around his hip, allowing him to go deeper and hit that spot that has you arching your back and crying out. You’re clawing at his back, eyes shut tight and mouth going dry, and his fast, regular rhythm is bringing you to the edge once again. Either Sunghoon has terrible timing, or he knows precisely how close you are and wants to tease you, because he slows down and pulls out. “I just want to make it last a bit longer,” he explains, murmuring the words in the crook of your jaw and neck before pressing a kiss there.

He pushes himself away from you and sits up on his bed, his back against the headboard. He looks at you with a lopsided smile, and when you position yourself on his lap, you take a couple moments to admire him before taking him again. His hairline beads with sweat, his face and upper body are flushed a light red color, his breathing is quick and shallow, mouth slightly agape, and his eyelids are heavy with lust, eyes almost closed. He’s never looked so good. 

“Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?” he asks, and you smile both at the compliment and at the fact that you were thinking the same thing about him just a second ago, as if you shared each other’s exact thoughts. You shake your head, and his gaze turns loving as he brushes a stray strand of hair behind your ear. “You’re so fucking beautiful, Baby. There. Said it.”

You kiss him passionately before taking him in your hand and raising yourself on your knees to guide his tip towards your entrance, keeping eye contact with him as you sink onto his length. The new position hits even more sensitive spots and makes the two of you moan simultaneously. 

Deciding to let him rest for a bit, you start moving yourself up and down on his cock, quickly settling into a nice rhythm that doesn’t tire your legs out too much but still manages to make you see stars. You hold onto Sunghoon’s shoulders, hands sometimes grabbing onto his hair while his stay firmly planted on your ass, kneading the soft skin there. You try to hold his gaze for as long as you can, but the pleasure starts to overwhelm you and you can’t do anything but shut your eyes, head falling back as loud moans escape your lips. There’s no way you could have kept it quiet, so you’re extremely grateful that Sunghoon’s living quarters are far enough away to avoid an audience.

Despite the immense pleasure of being on top of him and of choosing your own rhythm, your thighs start to hurt after a few minutes of this. Thankfully, Sunghoon notices your decreasing pace and the way your legs falter, and takes things into his own hands, finally ready to stop edging and bring the both of you to your ends. One hand on your lower back, one arm wrapped around your shoulders, he presses your chest firmly to his, hugging you tight, and starts bucking his hips into you at a pace that has you crying out into his shoulder. Your hands find purchase in his hair, pulling tight enough to hurt at the roots. If Sunghoon stops, it might be the death of you, so even if it’s a struggle to get the words out, you want to let him know how you feel.

“Fuck, Sunghoon, right there, please don’t stop, please- oh, my God!”

The sound of your two bodies coming together is lewd, but it only adds to your bliss, and in just thirty seconds of this, the knot in your stomach breaks loose and sends your whole body trembling against Sunghoon’s. He’s not long after you, the sound of his name over and over on your tongue as you cum sending him tumbling over the edge. You feel hot tears streaming down your face at the relief of finally having come undone, and the sounds leaving your lips now are fainter, your body too weak to even make any noise. 

You stay like this for a few moments, body limp on top of his, allowing your breaths to return to normal. You’ve had two boyfriends before, and they were the only two you’d ever had sex with, so it’s not like you had already discovered everything about the joys of sex, but you knew for sure that it didn’t always feel like this, didn’t always take you to heaven and back. Usually, you’d have stood up and cleaned yourself by now, but with Sunghoon, you never want to leave this spot. Fall asleep like this, wake up like this, stay as long as you wanted like this. But after a few minutes, Sunghoon stirs and you jolt out of your daze, getting off of him, wincing slightly at the sensitivity between your legs. 

He slips from his seated position and lays on his back. You follow suit, turning your body towards the ceiling, suddenly feeling shy at the idea of touching him, of getting closer - or maybe scared that he’ll suddenly want to be left alone, or worse, never want to see you again. But all your negative thoughts dissipate when he shifts to his stomach, sliding slightly down the bed to rest his head on your chest, burying his face there, hugging your waist tight, and letting out a contented sigh. Although your heart swells at his ridiculously cute actions, to say you aren’t a bit surprised would be a lie - after seeing a leading, more dominant side to him all week, since he was the one teaching you the dance and guiding you through the moves, you had thought it would translate to the way he was in bed. Yet, he had let you do what you wanted, let you set your own pace, as much as he had himself. And now, he was perfectly happy seeking out your affection and not making you come to him. It made you appreciate him that much more.

One of your hands makes its way to his back, grazing your fingernails along the expanse of it, while the other plays gently with his hair. You fall asleep in record time, perfectly at peace and exhausted from so much exertion.

-

When you wake up a few hours later, you’re still laying on your back, and although Sunghoon has drifted away, probably due to the heat in the room, your legs are still intertwined and he’s got an arm resting on your midriff. There’s nothing to let you know the time, so you look out the window and notice with panic that the sun has started to rise, which means it must be close to six a.m. You try to shake Sunghoon awake, but he just grumbles something incoherent and hugs you tighter to him, which you absolutely would have swooned over if you didn’t need to get back to your bungalow - and so you shake him harder.

“Sunghoon, wake up!” you say, far too quietly for it to actually wake him up, but he looks so cute asleep that it’d break your heart to wake him up too harshly.

“Why…” he whines, face buried in your neck and voice coming out muffled.

“I don’t want my father to notice that I’m gone,” you say, the aftertaste of the words bitter in your mouth.

“Why, what time is it?” he asks, slowly coming to his senses.

“I’m not sure, but he never wakes up late, so I don’t wanna risk it.” Your father, needing a real break from intense work days, had started waking up at 6:45 instead of 5:30 every morning. How relaxing.

“But I want you to stay,” Sunghoon grumbles, and you bless him for speaking your own thoughts but also curse him for making it harder to leave.

“I know, so do I. But I’ll see you later, okay?”

A beat. “Fine,” he sighs, then pushes himself off of you. He doesn’t look at you while you put your clothes back on and walk out of the room, but you know he can’t have fallen asleep again so quickly, so you’re terrified of having said or done something extremely wrong, but you can’t take it back now, so you just close the door behind you and rush back to your own bed.

The breakfast table is completely silent, the tension between you and your father clear to your mother, who doesn’t say anything, scared of accidentally adding fuel to the fire, and even to your sister, who eats her grapefruit quietly, darting her eyes back and forth between the three of you. Jay shows up from only God knows where and, not even trying to read the room, asks cheerfully what you’re all planning on performing at the show.

“We won’t be at the show,” your father says, making everyone’s heads snap towards him. “We’re leaving tomorrow morning, miss the weekend traffic.”

“We haven’t discussed this, honey,” your mother says just as Seeun whines, “But Daddy, we’ll miss the show!” You keep quiet, pretending the overcooked scrambled eggs on your plate are the most interesting thing you’ve ever seen. 

“It’s the biggest night of the season!” Jay chimes in, also trying to persuade him.

“Yeah, and I wanted to sing something!” your sister adds.

Your father looks back and forth between your mother’s and sister’s bewildered faces, then sighs and begrudgingly bows to their wishes. “Alright, alright, it was just an idea.”

A smile breaks on your mother’s face and Seeun clasps her hands together with a small noise of joy. “Perfect,” Jay exclaims, pointing a finger at you as he walks away. “Baby, I’ll need you for props.”

“So, Seeun, what songs do you have in mind?” your father asks and gets up, gesturing at your sister to follow him, although he looks completely uninterested. She practically jumps up from her seat and starts listing all her song ideas, leaving her half-finished breakfast behind.

You finish eating your own, making small talk with your mother for long enough so that she isn’t suspicious of your trying to escape, although you can tell she knows something is up and just won’t mention it. You thank her silently for it, and excuse yourself from the table to go check up on Chaewon.

When you get to her room, she’s still in bed, but isn’t sleeping and doesn’t look in pain anymore - she’s sitting up, flicking through a fashion magazine. She smiles brightly when she sees you at her door, discarding the magazine and extending her hands out to you.

“How are you feeling?” you ask as you take her hands in yours, crouching next to her bed.

“Much, much better,” she says, sounding relieved at her own answer. “You just missed your father. He’s an amazing man.”

You only have time to talk for a minute when the door opens once again to reveal Sunghoon. Seeing him creates a pit in your stomach, either from the memory of what you did last night or from the way you had to escape soon thereafter. You stand up straight, taking a few steps away from Chaewon. He looks at you briefly before turning his attention to her, and asks the same question you did moments prior.

“I’m feeling a lot better. Baby’s father says I’m still able to have children.”

“That’s great, Chaewon, that’s amazing,” Sunghoon says, sounding relieved.

“But what about you guys? How did the show go last night?” she asks, a hopeful expression on her face.

Sunghoon glances at you, and you avoid his gaze as best you can. “It went well,” he simply says, not explaining any further. 

“Yeah, I didn’t do the lifts, but other than that it went well.”

Chaewon looks at him, then at you, and all at once notices the awkward tension in the air - and she understands the situation as clearly as if it had been written out in black and white for her.

It’s silent for a few seconds until you speak. “Well, I guess I better go then… I’ll see you around.” You give Chaewon a small smile and head to the door, letting your eyes linger on Sunghoon before slipping out. But of course, you can’t actually bring yourself to leave, and sit on the stairs a few meters away from the door. From where you are, you can hear every word spoken inside the cabin.

“Sunghoon,” Chaewon starts.

“So, you’re feeling better, huh?”

“Sunghoon.”

“But you should still get some rest, right?”

“Sunghoon, stop it.” That shuts him up. “What are you doing? You’ve told me so many times not to get mixed up with them,” she says, sounding at once worried and reproachful.

“I know what I’m doing, alright?”

“Sunghoon, listen to me you gotta stop it, you know it’s not gonna end well-”

“I said I know what I’m doing,” he snaps, but seems to immediately regret it. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Chaewon, I just- you’re in no position to be worrying about me right now. I know what I’m doing. I trust her.” There’s a small silence, and you have no idea what expression Chaewon must be wearing right now. Is she unsure, satisfied, worried, angry? Is she nodding, trying to respect his decision, or looking like Sunghoon’s making the biggest mistake of his life? “I’ve gotta go, but I’ll see you later, alright? Rest up.”

“Alright, see you later, Hoon,” she says quietly, and when Sunghoon opens the door, he finds you waiting for him. You stand up and just look at him, unsure how to express what’s on your mind. You’d completely forgotten everything you had meant to tell him.

“Oh, hey, Baby,” he says upon seeing you.

“Hey.”

You both just stand there, staring at each other, no idea how to start the much-needed conversation.

“Look, I’ve got a uh, a lesson I need to go to right now, so…” he trails off.

“Right, right, no problem,” you say, nodding far too vigorously.

“But I’ll see you around.”

“Yeah, you will.”

Neither of you move for a few moments, and you feel like you’re completely stuck in place, unable to move until you’ve had the reassurance that things can stay as they were between you and Sunghoon. But he walks past you, already a few meters away when you gather the courage to call out his name, and he turns around so quickly, you dare to hope he might have been waiting for you to do so. You don’t say anything, you just smile, and hope he understands. He smiles back, an actual smile where his dimples appear and the corners of his eyes crinkle, and you know that for now at least, everything is okay.

-

“God, I am so sick of this rain,” your sister complains as she dabs powder on her face, covering up non-existent blemishes. All four of you are in the living room of your bungalow, resting after lunch and getting ready for the rest of the day. You and your father play a boring game of checkers, trying to make the tension disappear slowly, while your mother reads some detective novel.

“Where is my beige iridescent lipstick?” Seeun asks furiously, punctuating each of her words, as if that was the kind of everyday thing that lies about in everyone’s house.

Your father wins the game and looks relieved that it’s over more than anything. You pick up a light raincoat and head towards the door, but your mother calls out your name, stopping you in your tracks.

“Where are you going in this weather?” she asks with curiosity rather than wariness in her voice.

“They’re playing charades in the main lobby,” you reply casually, used to giving out random excuses by now.

“Quite the little joiner, are we?” your sister teases, and you’re not sure if she’s just making fun of you or if she knows you’re up to something but you ignore her anyway and walk out of the cabin.

You make your way to Sunghoon’s place as quickly as you can to avoid the rain. You had ran into him that morning and, when your parents weren’t looking, he let you know that he was free all afternoon with a smile that was as good as a spoken invitation.

He brings you into a hug as soon as you’ve closed the door behind you and presses a kiss to the top of your head, murmuring an apology into your hair. “I’m sorry I acted so awkwardly yesterday. You left so suddenly that night, and I was scared you regretted it…”

You lean back and gaze into his eyes. “I regret absolutely nothing, Sunghoon.”

He breathes out a relieved sigh, smiling as he nods. “Good. Me either.”

You press your lips to his, and although the kiss starts out slow and soft, it doesn’t take long for things to heat up. You let out a small yelp when Sunghoon lifts you up and carries you to the bed, laying you down gently on the mattress. He holds up to the promise he’d made the other night - namely, making you cum on his tongue and fingers as much as you want, or rather, as you soon find out, as much as he wants.

He starts by undressing you slowly, taking his time to revel in the sight of your naked body and the idea that it’s all for him. He only leaves your panties on, rubbing small circles over your clothed clit as he works his mouth on your nipples and breasts, paying each side its due attention. He then makes his way down, leaving warm kisses everywhere he can from your stomach to your inner thighs, and makes sure to work you up and have you squirming before actually slipping your panties off and giving you what you want. Once he’s wrapped his lips around your clit, it’s like he can’t get enough. With two fingers inside you, he sucks and licks at the sensitive bud for what feels like so long that you don’t know how his wrist and jaw don’t get tired. You don’t even try to count the number of times he makes you cum, simply taking every orgasm in stride, and even though you get so sensitive after a while, you’ve entered some sort of blissful, exhausted daze that you can’t bring yourself to break away from.

Afterwards, you’re lying next to Sunghoon, your head resting on his chest and grazing your fingernails up and down his arm while he plays with your hair. You’ve somehow managed not to fall asleep despite the tiredness filling your entire body, and you and Sunghoon talk quietly, the sound of the rain outside like a peaceful background song. You listen to him describe his dream of opening a dance school someday and choreographing professionally, then he listens as you talk about all the places you want to visit and the things you want to learn about the world. You share childhood memories and awkward first kiss anecdotes and compare your relationships with your parents and the similar sort of pressure they put on your shoulders, albeit for two very reasons.

“My dad especially, he just doesn’t understand that dancing can be an actual profession. He sees it as some kind of hobby I’ve had since I was a teenager and that it’ll pass soon when I realize I can’t make a living out of it. He completely ignores the fact I get paid more in three months here than in half-a-year with him, but he doesn’t mind taking the part of my salary I give our family when I come back, that’s for sure,” he chuckles humorlessly. “I’m scared he’ll think I’m betraying him if I don’t take up his carpentry business.”

“I was top of my class in elementary school, and my parents thought that meant I was the brightest little girl in the world and would grow up to achieve great things,” you explain in a joke-admirative voice. “And even if they tried not to say anything, I could see the disappointment on their faces when I brought home a B or was ranked third at a test. I’m happy I got into Yale, and that they can afford to pay for my studies, but it’s just gonna be even more pressure for four more years.” After a beat, you decide to add, “I can only forget about all of this when I’m with you. You just make all of my worries disappear for a while.”

The conversation takes a slightly sentimental tone as you tell each other what your first impression of the other was. You admit sheepishly to Sunghoon that you were attracted to him as soon as you saw him dancing with Chaewon that first night, and that you hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him after he danced with you, even though you found him a bit of an asshole the first couple of days he taught you the dance. You tell him you were sure he hated you at first, and he reveals that he didn’t at all.

“But I can see why you thought that. I just… I had never met anyone like you, Baby. Someone who thought she could just show up somewhere and decide to help a stranger out for no other reason than to help them out of the kindness of their heart. I didn’t know if you were the most foolish or the bravest person ever. And yeah, I’ll admit, I wasn’t the nicest to you at first. I kinda have this thing against… against rich people, I guess,” he says, chuckling softly. “For me, a wealthy person is like Max, or Jay, or all those ladies here. They use their wealth to get you to do what you want. But you’re not like that, and it took me a while to understand that. I’m sorry,” he finishes, pressing another kiss to your hair.

“No, no, it’s okay… I’m sorry they’ve all treated you like that. You deserve better.” He thanks you quietly and a comfortable silence settles between the two of you for a few minutes and you’re close to falling asleep when Sunghoon calls out your name.

“Hm?”

“What’s your real name?”

You raise your head to look at him and flash him a big smile. It’s been ages since someone asked you that, most people not bothering to question your nickname.

“It’s Y/N.”

“Y/N…” he echoes, gazing at you lovingly. “It fits you perfectly.”

You press a gentle kiss to his lips in response, and you think it’s gonna end at that, but Sunghoon pulls you back in right as you’re about to lean out, and you know you’re done for. You’re still extremely sensitive but that only adds to the pleasure of him filling you up, intertwining your fingers with him as you make love, his thrusts slow but deep and your bodies pressed flush against each other. Your heart is bursting with something that you can only recognize as love.

-

That night, as you’re on the verge of falling asleep, your sister says something that jolts you awake.

“I’ve decided to go all the way with Heeseung,” she says, a hint of a smile in her voice. 

You snap your head towards her. “What? Seeun, no, you shouldn’t-”

“I’ve already thought about everything. I want it to happen on the night of rehearsals, I know what I’ll wear-”

“No, Seeun, listen, you can’t do it with Heeseung, I’ve already told you he’s bad news!” you whisper-scream, trying to get some sense into her head without your parents overhearing.

“Who else with, then?” she whisper-shouts back.

“Just- I don’t know, but not with him, it needs to be with someone you actually love, someone you can trust-”

“I can trust Heeseung. I do trust him - more than I trust you, actually,” she says, the conversation taking another turn.

“Seeun-”

“No, Baby. You don’t actually care about this, or even about me. All you care about is that you’re not Daddy’s little girl anymore. He listens when I talk now.” She turns her back to you with a huff.

“Seeun-” you try again, but she’s already done talking.

“Goodnight.”

You want to find a way to stop your sister from wasting an important experience like having sex for the first time on a guy like Heeseung, but you also know that once she’s set her mind to something, it’s hard to stop Seeun from doing it. Maybe this will be a lesson for her to learn from, you think, trying to reassure yourself.

The next afternoon, when your parents are busy playing cards with another couple and Seeun is off somewhere with her friends, you sneak off to visit Sunghoon in his dance classroom. He has an hour free in between classes and you use that opportunity to mess around for a bit. You put on a song you both love and dance together whichever way you want, acting out and lipsyncing to the lyrics. You have fun teasing him by swerving your head when he leans in for a kiss or trailing your hand along his arms, shoulders and back.

The sound of loud footsteps coming up the stairs spoils your fun, and you quickly position yourself face to the mirror and pretend you’re practicing basic mambo moves while Sunghoon heads to the record player. The one and only Jay stands at the door and seems to falter for a second at seeing you here.

“Hey, Baby, taking dance lessons?” You simply nod at him. “I could teach you kid,” he says, mirroring your moves and dancing a few steps until Sunghoon makes the record scratch, stopping the music abruptly. Jay’s arms drop to the side and he gives you a look as if to say “check this guy out,” and you try not to roll your eyes at him. 

“Sunghoon,” he says, walking towards him with all the confidence of a boss talking to his employee. The addressee simply raises his chin at him, pretending to busy himself with the record player. “My grandfather put me in charge of the talent show, and I’ve been thinking about the final dance. I’d like to uh, you know, do something different-”

“Yeah?”

“Move with the times-”

“Yeah? That’s great, I’ve got plenty of ideas-” Sunghoon says, speaking so quickly he cuts himself off, but Jay’s smile drops instantly. “We’ve been working on something with the staff, it goes like-”

You watch in the mirror as Sunghoon dances a step you’ve never seen before, and it looks really cool but Jay shakes his head, gesturing at Sunghoon to quiet down like he would a kid, as if they weren’t the exact same age.

“Woah there, you’re way over your head, boy.” Sunghoon stands up straight once again, jaw locked tight. “I was thinking, instead of doing the last dance to the mambo, how about, this year, doing it to the pachanga?” Jay asks, looking at you with a smile and nodding, as if he’d just said the most revolutionary thing ever.

“Right,” Sunghoon says coldly, bursting Jay’s bubble.

“Well,” he says, clearing his throat, “you’re more than welcome to do the same tired number as the previous years, but I’m sure that next summer, we’ll find a dance instructor who’s-”

“The pachanga,” Sunghoon cuts him off, raising his voice over Jay’s. “Great idea, Jay, let’s do that.”

A satisfied smile grows on Jay’s lips as Sunghoon turns back to the record player, and he struts back towards you. When he’s close enough, he leans in and says conspiratorially, but still loud enough for Sunghoon to hear, “He’s, uh, a bit hard to get through to sometimes, but the ladies seem to like him.” He doesn’t realize that you’re one of said ladies. “Make sure you’re getting the full half-hour you’re paying, kid,” he says once he’s at the door, and slips out on that graceful note.

Sunghoon’s next class takes place on the gazebo, so you accompany him there, trying to keep up with his long strides made quicker by his frustration. “God, I just hate that guy, he has no idea what he’s talking about. He wouldn’t recognise a good idea if it hit him in the pachanga,” he huffs angrily.

“But can’t you just talk to him? I’m sure he’d listen if you’d just tell him-”

“Didn’t you see what happened, Baby? He won’t listen. I can’t get everything I want just by asking, he’s the one with the money, with the power, I can’t do anything-”

“But it isn’t right! You have to fight harder-”

“That’s not how it works for me, Baby-”

You let out a small gasp, interrupting Sunghoon whose head pivots towards you, but you take him by the shoulders and bring him down to a crouch next to you. He follows your gaze to find your father, leaving a building with Heeseung and Seeun. Your dad brings his arm around Heeseung and shakes his shoulder in a fatherly manner while Seeun looks at them with a smile. 

Sunghoon’s muscles tense in realization - you don’t want to be caught with him, especially not by your father. 

You’re completely oblivious to this, and stand back up when the three of them are out of sight. “Alright, I think they’re gone,” you say, and only realize what you’ve done when you see the tight expression on Sunghoon’s face.

“Fight harder, huh?”

You just messed up real bad. “No, Sunghoon, I was planning on telling him, I just haven’t yet-”

“I don’t believe you, Baby. I don’t think you’ve ever had the intention of telling him,” he says, shaking his head. His eyes look down at you harshly, and it hurts so much more now than when you’d just met. 

“Sunghoon, please-”

“I gotta go. I’ll see you later, Y/N.”

You watch Sunghoon’s shrinking figure, cursing yourself for your cowardice and for your inability to do exactly what you preach. Your father was already so disappointed in you for simply being friends with Sunghoon, so if he knew what you were actually up to, he might go and disown you.

A few hours with no one to spend them with get you thinking. You had always thought your father was the best man on earth. Funny, loving, kind, fair. But you now realize it might not be so - he is prejudiced towards people who aren’t like him and isn’t forgiving of others’ mistakes. He made you believe in a world where everyone should be equal, but he himself doesn’t treat everyone the same. 

You also hate what this is doing to Sunghoon. You, who had told him he deserved everything he wanted, weren’t even capable of holding his hand proudly for everyone to see. So, for Sunghoon’s sake as well as for your own, you have to tell your father how you feel for Sunghoon, and put up a fight if he tries to stop it.

But first, you had to find Sunghoon and apologize. It’s nearing dinnertime, and he shouldn’t be working anymore, so you go look for him in his room. He isn’t there, so you head to his dance studio, then the gazebo, and anywhere else you can think of where he might have classes. But he’s nowhere to find, and after half-an-hour of running around, your last option is to go ask Chaewon where Sunghoon might be. At least, you know she’ll be in her room, still recovering.

You take a second to catch your breath then knock on Chaewon’s door, then wait until she calls you in to open the door. “Hey, Chaewon, have you seen Sunghoon?” you ask, only realizing after you’ve said the words that it might be rude to be so direct, but you don’t have time to apologize because your eyes shift to the other person in the room, who is, of course, Sunghoon himself. He stands up from his seat on the armchair in the corner, looking at you with an unreadable expression. He could be anywhere on a scale where one extreme is ‘he hates you and never wants to talk to you again’ and ‘he has never been so relieved to see you’ and you’d have no idea.

“Can we, um, talk? Outside, if it’s okay?” you ask, eyes darting back and forth between Sunghoon and Chaewon. She smiles and jerks her head towards the door, silently telling Sunghoon to go with you. He purses his lips and nods, following you outside and closing the door behind him.

He rests his palms on the banister of the front porch, looking out at the lawn and the resort buildings in the distance. You stand behind him, bringing your palms up to his arms and kissing his shoulder. He closes his eyes and sighs, basking in your touch despite himself. “I’m sorry, Sunghoon. I’m sorry.” 

He turns around, gazing down at you with that unreadable expression on his face. “It’s okay. I understand.”

When he kisses you, the relief in your bones is like nothing else, better even than coming home to your bed after a long, tiring day, or than getting a good grade on a test you thought you’d failed. Your arms wrap around his neck while his find their way to your waist, and you revel in the closeness of your bodies and the taste of his lips, like mint and something uniquely Sunghoon that you can’t ever get enough of.

But unfortunately, you stay long enough in this position to attract the attention of a one-man audience. “Damn, guess I picked the wrong sister,” you hear Heeseung chuckle, and when you pull away from Sunghoon, you see that insufferable smirk on his face. How you wish you could just smack it off of there. “Didn’t know you put out like that, Baby.”

It all happens so quickly, you don’t have time to understand what’s going on, let alone stop Sunghoon from jumping over the banister. He stomps over to Heeseung, grabbing him by the collar and shaking hard. 

“Repeat what you just said, I dare you,” he says in a low, menacing voice, face close to Heeseung’s. The latter’s smirk falters for just a split second before coming back, as if incapable of not looking like an arrogant asshole for more than a few seconds at a time.

“I said,” Heeseung starts, “that I hadn’t thought Baby was so fucking easy.”

Heeseung has barely finished speaking that Sunghoon has raised his fist back, ready to strike the insolent expression off of the boy’s face. It’d be satisfying, that’s for sure, but it wouldn’t be worth risking his job, so you call out his name and make him stop in his tracks. He doesn’t look back at you, though, just keeps his hard gaze fixated on Heeseung, breathing heavily in anger.

“Sunghoon, please,” you repeat, pleading with him. 

“So, what’s it gonna be, loverboy?” Heeseung teases, but Sunghoon just drops his fist and pushes him away, making him stumble a few steps back. 

“You’re not worth it,” Sunghoon practically spits, sending one last cold look his way before walking back to you.

You don’t care enough to check how Heeseung reacts, just watching Sunghoon make his way back to you, relieved nothing happened. He stands in front of the banister, the height difference allowing you to hug his head to your chest and you press a kiss to the top of his head, whispering in his hair that you’re proud of him.

Soon afterwards, you have to head back to the building where the talent show will happen. He could do it anywhere else, but Sunghoon decides to plan out his performance in the same room, using the excuse of needing to see the stage just to stay around you. 

You’re painting some sort of fake coconut tree while competitors rehearse their performance, your sister by far the loudest of them. You try not to cringe as her dissonant voice reverbs around the room, but nobody pays her too much attention. It’s hard not to steal glances every two seconds at Sunghoon, and you tell yourself that he just looks especially good today in his tight black t-shirt and black jeans, but you also know he looks good everyday. His gaze also strays towards you more often than not, and you try not to burst into giggles every time your eyes meet, not wanting to raise any suspicion. 

This room is also where a group of men play their games of poker, and since it was big enough to host all of you, they had decided to stay there even through the preparations, sure that it wouldn’t disrupt their game. 

The not-staring takes on another level of difficulty when a lady you recognize as Vivian Kim leaves her spot standing behind her husband at the poker table to make her way to Sunghoon, walking in a fashion far too languorous for your taste. 

From where you are, you can’t hear exactly what she says, but it’s not hard to guess - an invitation to spend the night with her while her husband is busy, one last time before she leaves the resort and goes home.

Sunghoon stays silent but that doesn’t seem to deter her, and she flashes him a lurid smile before walking back to the poker table. He turns his head to check if you’ve seen what happened, but you look away from him and back at your coconut tree, hoping the jealousy you’re feeling isn’t written all over your face. 

Vivian’s husband calls out Sunghoon’s name, waving him over good-naturedly. You watch once again as Sunghoon walks over to the table and as Mr Kim pulls out dollar bills from his wallet. “Tonight’s the final poker tournament, so how about some dance lessons for my wife?” he asks, and you can’t tell from his tone whether he thinks that dance lessons really are what his money is paying for or if he knows what’s actually going on.

Sunghoon takes the money and Mr Kim smiles at him, returning to the game, but Sunghoon just stands there, staring at the bills in his hands, then to Vivian, behind him to you, and finally back at Mr Kim. “Thanks, Mr Kim, but I’m all booked up for the rest of the week ‘cause of the show, so I don’t think it’d be fair to take the money.”

Mr Kim nods as Sunghoon hands him back the cash, saying he appreciates his honesty. Vivian looks at him, eyes wide, obviously surprised at his sudden refusal. Sunghoon walks back to his seat, sending a small smile your way, and you try your best not to gloat. 

-

In the past few days, it’s become a bit of a habit to sneak out of your bungalow and rush to Sunghoon’s when your family has gone to sleep. Except tonight, what you don’t know is that Seeun hears you, because she’s planning on doing the exact same thing and paying Heeseung a visit. You’re already with your own lover when she heads out of the room, skipping in excitement and anticipation the whole way there. She’s applied lotion to her entire body, sprayed perfume to her neck, wrists and ankles, and has read all the sex advice columns of her favorite magazines - she’s more than prepared for this.

She reaches the door. Takes a deep breath in, stands up straight. Calls out, “Heeseung, it’s me!” but no answer comes. So she opens the door slightly, and almost drops her bag at the sight in front of her, gasping loudly. She has just enough reflex to close the door again and rest her back against it, taking a few seconds to let it sink in before running back to her bed, where she promptly explodes into tears.

Now more than ever, she wishes her sister was here, whether to comfort her or to say “I told you so.” She wishes you were here to help her make sense of finding Vivian Kim and Heeseung naked together in his bed when he had spent weeks making her believe he wanted to be with her and her only. She wishes you would curse him out and call him all the names she wants to but doesn’t have the courage to.

But unfortunately, you’re not there with her. Instead, you’re with Sunghoon, laying together in bed, your head resting on his chest and your legs intertwined. You’re both spent from a night of lovemaking and from your shower that was supposed to be innocent but quickly turned steamy. You wake up at dawn, knowing you’ll have to go soon but heart breaking at the thought of tearing yourself from Sunghoon’s warm embrace. You press soft kisses to his neck and whisper his name, trying to wake him up gently. His eyes stay closed as he tightens his arms around you and pleads with you to stay just a little bit longer, and you’re not strong enough to say no.

“I had a dream earlier where your father called me ‘son’ and put his arm around me like he did with Heeseung earlier.” His morning voice is raspy from sleep and sends butterflies straight to your stomach.

“I’m sorry, Sunghoon,” you hum. “I’ll talk to him today. I’ll tell him about you.”

You feel his chest rise up then down as he sighs. “I thought about it, and I feel like it’d make things even worse if he knew about us. He just seems to think I’m a bad guy, for some reason, and me being with his daughter will only make him hate me more.”

“But you’re not a bad guy. You’re the best guy,” you say, voice slightly whiny. You’re too sleepy to come up with a better reply, and it makes Sunghoon chuckle.

“Thanks, Baby.” He presses a kiss to your hair, and it’s become such a familiar gesture that you’re not sure how you’ll live without it once you go home.

It’s not long before you have to head back to your bungalow, and Sunghoon walks you outside, slotting his lips with yours for one last time this morning and making plans to meet up later. You don’t pay attention to anything other than him - not to the slight breeze picking up, or the sun rising, or the staff bungalows, off to the side from Sunghoon’s. But not paying attention means not noticing a figure standing on one of those staff bungalows, not seeing her eyes squinting at yours and Sunghoon’s embrace, first recognising him, and, once her initial shock wears off, recognising you. Because of course, just like you, Vivian Kim has to leave Heeseung’s bungalow before anyone notices - except that in your case, someone notices you.

And the consequences of it appear only a few hours later, as your family are having a late breakfast with Max and Jay. When the conversation first begins, you don’t think it’ll be of much importance to you.

“You know that feeling when you look at a patient and think he’s all fine, but then you get his x-rays and something’s completely wrong?” Max starts, addressing your father. “That’s exactly what it is to find out one of your staff, a trusted one at that, is a thief.”

“What happened, Max?” your father asks, eyebrows furrowed.

“Mr Kim’s wallet was stolen,” Max simply says, sighing. Jay jumps on the opportunity to explain the story himself, leaning in conspiratorially.

“It happened yesterday night when he was playing poker. One minute, his wallet was right there in his coat pocket, hanging on his chair behind him, and the next, it wasn’t.” Your sister lets out a small gasp.

“Vivian says she saw that dance kid Sunghoon walk by,” Max continues, and your head snaps up at the mention of Sunghoon’s name. “So we go and ask him if he’s got an alibi, and he says he was in his room alone all night, reading.”

Jay snorts. “There is not a single book in Sunghoon Park’s room.”

The whole time, you’re shaking your head slightly, unable to believe that Sunghoon might be wrongfully framed for this. You turn towards Jay, a pleading expression on your face. “Listen, there’s been a mistake, there’s no way Sunghoon did it-”

“There’s been similar thefts at the Sheldrake and even here. Three wallets stolen, and now Mr Kim’s!”

“No, I know he didn’t do it-”

“Stay out of it, Baby!” Jay snaps at you. You look at him in disbelief, because of the way he just talked to you, because of what they’re accusing Sunghoon of, but above all because it’s inconceivable that your parents ever wanted to set you up with a guy like him. Entitled, judgmental, unkind.

But you can’t just stay out of it - this concerns Sunghoon, and if you can stop it from happening, you’ll do everything so that he doesn’t lose his job over a false accusation. So you turn towards your father and Max, and plead Sunghoon’s case.

“I know Sunghoon didn’t take Mr Kim’s wallet, I know.”

“How can you be so sure?” your father asks.

“I-I can’t tell you, but Daddy, please, you have to trust me.”

Your father sighs, turning his attention back to his plate. “I’m sorry, Baby, but I can’t.”

“But- it could’ve been anyone else,” you continue, looking at Max now that your father avoids your gaze. “Maybe it was- oh, maybe it was that little old couple, the Schumachers, I saw her with a couple of wallets-”

“The Schumachers? Impossible,” Max refutes as your father furrows his eyebrows at you, raising his voice slightly.

“You don’t go around accusing innocent people, Baby!”

“But I saw them, I saw them at the Sheldrake- you said something was stolen at the Sheldrake, right?” you say, turning towards Jay again, your voice growing desperate.”

“Listen, Baby,” Max cuts in, voice calm but firm, “I’ve got an eyewitness and the kid has no alibi. Come on, Jay, let me show you how to fire an employee.”

You catch his wrist before he can turn away and gulp, preparing yourself for what you were about to say. “Wait a minute. I know Sunghoon didn’t do it, I know it, because he was in his room all night, and I know that because,” you pause for a second, risking a glance at your father, “because I was there with him.”

The table goes silent. You can feel yourself weighing down under the heavy gazes of everyone seated. After a few seconds that feel like an eternity, Max clears his throat and awkwardly says, “Right, well, we’ll investigate some more in light of these news-”

He’s cut off by the screech of your father’s chair being roughly pushed back. You watch as your father leaves the room, steam coming out of his ears, and you can only hope revealing the truth will be worth it in the end.

After giving your father some time to cool off, you find him in the empty gazebo, looking out at the lake. The water is still except for the parts where ducks dip their heads in and back out. Even now that the rain has stopped pouring every day, clouds still render the sky a blinding white, and the sun only appears now and then when they part enough to let a ray through. There’s a slight breeze that makes leaves flutter around, and you need to tighten your light cardigan around your shoulders.

You know he sees you approaching, but he keeps his gaze fixated on the lake, even when you call out to him. 

“I told you I wasn’t lying about Sunghoon,” you start. “But I’m sorry I lied about the money. I’m not proud of myself for that, you know. But you lied too,” you say, and he finally looks at you, awaiting an explanation. “You told me everyone deserved a fair break, but you meant everyone like you. You said I could change the world, but you meant by becoming a lawyer, or an economist, and marrying someone from Harvard!”

He closes his eyes as if in pain, then looks back out to the lake, staying silent. “I made a mistake. There’s things about me you don’t know, and things you might not like, but I’m in this family too, and if you love me, you’ll have to love my faults too.” Your voice shakes and your eyes start to water. Seeing your father’s eyes do the same only adds to the difficulty of saying what you want to say.

“Because I love you, Daddy, and I’m sorry I let you down, but you let me down too!” Your voice completely breaks on those last words, and you turn away, letting your feet guide you wherever before your dad can hear the sob that escapes your throat. You know your dad’s silent treatment won’t last for long, so you leave him in the gazebo to think and cry as much as he needs to.

Your body must have developed new instincts, because soon enough, you find yourself in Sunghoon’s cabin, unsure how you even got here. His things are still there, which reassures you of the fact that he hasn’t left yet. You pace back and forth in the room for a few minutes until your emotions suddenly come crashing down, all the stress and tension and strung feelings, leaving behind only exhaustion. You lay on Sunghoon’s bed, thinking you’ll just close your eyes for a few minutes. But when you open them again, they fall on Sunghoon’s face, and you have no idea how long you’ve been there.

“Sunghoon?” you murmur.

“I have been looking for you all over,” he says, crouching in front of you, and gives you time to sit up and rub the sleep out of your eyes. “You were right about the Schumachers. Fingerprinted their glasses. Turns out they were wanted in a bunch of other states for theft too. They found them when they were already trying to leave the resort,” he explains, and your smile grows wider and wider as he speaks. 

“Oh my God, that’s amazing! I knew it’d work out!”

But Sunghoon diverts his gaze down, unable to match your euphoric expression. “I’m out, Baby.”

You quickly put two and two together. “They fired you anyway because of me.” 

“And if I leave quietly, I get my summer bonus,” he says sarcastically.

Your anger makes you stand up, walk to one corner of the room then back, your voice rising on its own accord. “So I did it all for nothing, then? I hurt my family, you lost your job anyway - it was all for nothing!”

“It was not for nothing!” Sunghoon exclaims, volume matching yours. “Nobody has ever done anything like that for me!” He searches your eyes for the reassurance that everything that happened this summer was worth it, but he only finds sorrow in them.

“You were right, Sunghoon,” you say with a sad smile, voice lowering to a hum, “you can’t change anything no matter how hard you try.”

“No, Baby,” he says, walking towards you, “I don’t want that from you, you hear me? You can. You can do whatever you want.”

Your gazes stay locked in each other for a few painful moments until it becomes unbearable and you have to look away. “I used to think so too.”

There’s nothing left to say. You watch silently as Sunghoon begins packing the few belongings he has in two small suitcases and a rucksack, then help out when the passivity starts to make your muscles ache. He hasn’t got much, so he’s done in just a few minutes, and you don’t realize you have tears pooling in your eyes until Sunghoon himself notices and wordlessly takes you in his arms.

You’re heading to his car when he suddenly stops in his tracks, saying he has something he needs to do first. You don’t question it, just agree to wait for him. It’s not like you’ve got anything better to do anyway.

A few minutes later, unbeknownst to you, Sunghoon is knocking on your cabin’s door. Just as he’d hoped, your father is the one to open the door, squinting his eyes meanly at the young man behind it as soon as he realizes who he is. Your father stays silent as he stares Sunghoon down, making a chill run down Sunghoon’s neck. He clears his throat before speaking. “Doctor, I-” he starts, already cutting himself off to take off his sunglasses. “I’m going anyway, and I know what you must be thinking-”

“You don’t know anything about me,” your father interrupts, shaking his head in disdain at Sunghoon. “Anything at all.”

Sunghoon had really wanted to stay calm and focused, to just say what he wanted to stay, but now that he’s leaving, he has no reason to put up with the blatant disrespect and contempt of the clients and higher-ups any longer. “I know you want Baby to be like you. An admirable person, the kind people look up to, but if you could just see, she’s already like that-”

“I know my daughter far better than you do, so don’t you tell me what to see,” your father practically barks, unable to contain his anger. “What I see right now is someone who got his partner in trouble and sent her off to some butcher, then moved on to a younger, innocent girl like my Baby.”

Rather than frustrated, Sunghoon’s eyes grow tired and sad. There’s no fight left in him anymore - he can see he won’t be able to change your father’s mind, there’s no point even trying. “Yeah, I guess that’s what you would see,” he murmurs before walking away, back to you, the only person who’s ever wanted to truly understand him.

And then it’s goodbye. 

While you were waiting, you kicked pebbles, brooding over the fact that your already shortening time with Sunghoon was getting cut off even more. But as soon as you see him, those thoughts evaporate, and you’re left with bittersweetness in your mouth. You spent the most incredible summer with him by your side, and even though it’s coming to an end, maybe the experience and the memories are all that matters.

Sunghoon closes the trunk when he’s done packing it, and walks over to where you’re standing, back against the passenger door, arms crossed over your chest. He rests his forearm on top of the car and neither of you are able to look the other in the eye for fear of emotion overwhelming you.

“Guess we took them all by surprise, huh?” you say, trying on a light-hearted tone to dissolve the tension in the air.

“Guess we did,” he chuckles quietly, risking a glance up at you. Your eyes meet and before you can break down, you turn your body towards his, nesting your face in the crook of his neck. He presses a kiss to your hair like a hundred times before and it’s enough to make your heart break. 

“I don’t know what I’ll do without you around.”

He rests his chin on the top of your head. “You’ll just have more time for card games and croquet,” he jokes, but you can’t laugh. “And Jake and Chaewon will still be around.” It’s silent for a few more minutes, and you try to commit the feeling of him against you and the smell of his skin to memory. “I’ll never be sorry,” he finally says, voice muffled by your hair.

“Neither will I,” you whisper against his neck.

He inhales deeply and tears himself away, gazing down at you sadly. With his thumb, he wipes a tear as it drops down your cheek, and presses his lips to yours in one last kiss, tasting the saltiness of your heartbreak. “I’ll see you around, Baby,” he says against your lips, forehead resting against yours. But he can’t linger - it would only make this impossible moment even harder.

Your vision is too blurry for you to see properly as he walks to the other side of the car and disappears in the driver’s seat. In a matter of seconds, his car becomes a fuzzy black dot in the distance, and you’ve no choice but to walk back to the place that made you discover love only to rip it from your hands.

-

The three days until the talent show feel like eternity. Counting down the minutes until you leave doesn’t make time go by any faster, but you don’t feel like doing anything else. You hang out with Chaewon and Jake and their friends when they’re free, going back with them to the staff main quarters one night, and even though the music is the same as the first time, Sunghoon’s absence changes everything. You can’t dance without imagining his hands on your waist and his voice guiding you through the steps. 

Seeun is also a lot nicer to you. She tells you what happened with Heeseung, and it’s like your shared love troubles bring you closer, reminding you that you’re not so different after all. As you get ready to go watch the talent show, she sits next to you on the bed, offering to do your hair. But then she takes a strand of it in her hands, trailing her fingers through it, and looks at you with a soft smile. “You know what, I think it looks perfect just like that.” 

You mirror her smile and drop your head to her shoulder. You stay like this for a few seconds, words unnecessary to understand each other. “You’ll do great tonight, Seeun. I can’t wait to watch you.”

“I know,” she replies, making you both giggle. “Now let’s go, it’ll start soon.”

You’re not surprised to see that your parents have chosen to seat you in a corner, trapped between a wall and your father. Practically the same thing, you think, but you’re wise enough to keep the comment to yourself. 

The performers have gathered in a line on the stage, your sister included, to sing the resort’s last day song as a conclusion to the show now that Sunghoon isn’t here to do the final dance. Max even gets his own solo. The song goes on for far too long to your taste, so you take the time to look around the room.

The lights are dim, save for the ones on the stage so that the focus of the audience stays on the performers, and wall fixtures next to the exits so they can be found easily. Chairs have been brought to the center of the room right in front of the stage while tables line the walls, candles adorning each one. Staff don’t get seats - instead, they stand at the back of the room, their backs against the wall as they watch the stage with boredom written all over their faces. You catch Jake’s eyes and he winks at you, a mischievous smile on his face, and you chalk it up to his usual playfulness.

Heeseung walks near your table, and your father stands up, calling out to him. He gets something that looks like an envelope out of his pocket, handing it to him. “Good luck in medical school, son.” Heeseung takes the envelope, looking down at it with a smile, and your father rests a hand on his shoulder.

“Thank you so much, Doc,” Heeseung beams. “And I also wanted to thank you for your help with the Chaewon situation, I guess we’ve all gotten into messes like these, huh?” Your father stands with his back to you, so you can only imagine the way his smile falls and his eyes harden.

“What?”

Heeseung’s smile falters slightly and he chuckles awkwardly. “I-I thought Baby told you… Look, it’s what Chaewon said, but I’m not sure, you never know with girls like that, they could pin it on anyone-”

Your father snatches the envelope back from Heeseung’s hands, glaring at him, and walks back to his seat next to you without a word. It’s only now that you understand your father’s dislike of Sunghoon - he had been certain Sunghoon was the one who had gotten Chaewon into such trouble. How could you have missed that? All this time, you thought it was just because Sunghoon was part of the staff and didn’t come from your world. Regret and frustration bubble up in your stomach. So many misunderstandings could’ve been avoided if only you had known what your father thought.

It’s only after a few minutes that he breaks the silence. “I’m sorry, Baby.”

You take a deep breath in. “Thank you, but I’m not the one you need to apologize to, Daddy.”

He turns his head to look at you. “You’re right. You’re right,” he sighs.

Just then, Jake walks past your table and towards the stage, disappearing behind the curtains on the side. You lift your head, trying to see what he’s up to, but the sound of the doors at the back of the room opening and closing loudly catches your attention. It seems to catch everybody’s attention - you hear small gasps and small murmurs of a familiar name, and your mind directly lands on the possibility, but you don’t believe it until you see it standing right in front of you, a hand reaching out to you - Sunghoon’s here.

“Nobody puts Baby in a corner.”

You take his hand and let him guide you away from the table. You’re so enchanted by seeing him again that you barely notice your mother having to keep your father from stopping you. Together, you climb up the small set of stairs, walking past the performers and standing in the middle of the stage, the music stopping abruptly. His voice booms throughout the room when he speaks.

“Sorry for the disruption folks, but I always do the last dance of the season. This year, I was told not to. So I’m gonna do my kind of dancing with a great partner. Not only is she an amazing dancer, but she also taught me that people will stand for other people no matter what it costs them, and about the kind of person I want to be myself. Miss Y/N Y/L/N, everyone.” 

Whoops emerge from the back of the room where the staff are standing and you watch as Sunghoon walks to the side of the stage, discarding his leather jacket and exchanging a nod with Jake. The music starts to play - it’s a song you’ve heard before, a song you know well because you’ve danced to it many times with Sunghoon. It’s a song you love. 

He walks towards you, a smirk on his face, eyes heavy with desire. He places his hands on your waist, your own coming up to his forearm, and dips you backwards in a circle, which elicits more cheers from the dancers. He then stands behind you, imitating the starting position of the dance for your performance at the Sheldrake. The music picks up, and after that, it’s like magic. You and Sunghoon know exactly what to do, a mix of the choreography he’d taught you and of other moves you had picked up when you just danced together for fun. All the steps and turns come to you as if you know this dance by heart, and the whole time, you’re looking into each other’s eyes as they shine with happiness.

Sunghoon makes you spin away from him, and, your arm extended between you two, brings your hand up to his lips and places a delicate kiss to the back of it. Then, he jumps off the stage, prompting gasps and cheers from all around the room, and makes his way while dancing to the back of the room, where the dancers join him. Seconds before the second chorus is about to start, some of them run to you and help you off the stage, and Sunghoon nods at you from the middle of the room. So you run to him, gathering momentum until you reach him and he picks you up, lifting you from the ground up into the air, and you manage to keep your bird-like position for a few seconds. A huge smile breaks on your face as everybody cheers, your mother and sister clapping excitedly and even your father looking at you, astonished, proud. 

Sunghoon brings you back down slowly, grinning as he gazes at you with only love in his eyes. “I knew you could do it,” he whispers.

The staff starts to invite the guests to dance with them, pushing chairs to the side and getting people to stand up. Jake shows Seeun how to move, reminiscent of the way Sunghoon had done with you, your mother and Jay dance together, and the whole room turns into a dancefloor where couples and small groups can let go and move however they want to. 

You and Sunghoon head to the exit to find a quieter place, but your father calls out to you before you can slip away. “I found out you weren’t the one to get Chaewon in trouble.” Sunghoon simply nods. “I was wrong. I apologize,” he says solemnly, and the corners of Sunghoon’s lips tug slightly upwards.

“Thank you, Doctor Y/L/N.”

Your father’s eyes drift to you, and his polite expression turns affectionate. “You looked great up there, Baby.” You sigh, relief washing over your whole body and alleviating the weight on your heart. You let go of Sunghoon’s hands to wrap your arms around your father’s neck, and he takes you in a brief but tight hug.

“I’ll let you two go now. I need to find your mother, haven’t danced with her in ages. That’s something else I can thank you for,” he says, smiling down at you.

You watch him walk away for a few seconds until Sunghoon takes your hand in his again, and you slip out the doors to the front lawn. Outside, you close your eyes and take a deep breath of fresh air in, laughing for no reason other than simple joy when your eyes meet his.

He leads you to the gazebo and brings his hands to your waist again. The song is nearing its end but you can still hear it drifting through the open doors and windows of the room. You know that even when it’s over, it’ll keep playing in your head - and in your heart.

Just like you’ll always keep Sunghoon there.

You move slowly to the rhythm of the last chorus, gazing into each other’s eyes. You want to enjoy this moment for what it is, but the fact that you’re leaving tomorrow won’t leave your thoughts. This might very well be the last time you and Sunghoon ever dance together, or ever see each other. You can give each other your address and send letters, or exchange home phone numbers and call, but how long will that last? You’ll go to college while he goes home and starts working with his father again, or finds a way to fulfill his dream.

He probably sees the sadness in your eyes and brings you closer to him. He doesn’t say anything, but he doesn’t need to - you know the same thoughts are cramping his mind. Words are unnecessary, and promises are futile, so for now, you forget everything else, and focus on the sway of your bodies and on his hands holding you tight against him.

Resting the side of your head on his shoulder, you look up at the night sky. The stars are shining bright, unbothered by any clouds, and the full moon gazes down at you protectively. Even when you’re apart, you and Sunghoon will still sleep under the same moon every night. You may be just one of the many love stories she’s witnessed, but you dare to think that yours is a special one, one that can’t be reproduced, one that is uniquely yours.

You continue to dance even when the song is over, letting your bodies bask in the moonlight.

fic taglist: @jaetaimjadore @sleepingsag permanent taglist: @ozymandia-s @bbujiikseu @sunghoonmybeloved @lalalalawon @sd211 © asahicore on tumblr, 2023. please do not plagiarize, repost or translate my works. feedback and reblogs are always appreciated!

#sunghoon smut #enhypen smut #sunghoon angst #enhypen angst #sunghoon fluff #enhypen fluff #sunghoon x reader #enhypen x reader #sunghoon fanfiction #enhypen fanfiction #sunghoon au #enhypen au

[kaneaken]

hello , I really like the way you write cyno, I was wondering if you could write something about cyno / (and maybe tighnari too if you're okay with it) with an s/o who easily gets sick, I've been very sick for what feels like forever and I need some comfort :( It'd help me so much, thank you<3

CYNO AND TIGHNARI WITH AN EASILY SICK S/O

author's note; hi, nonnie! i hope you feel better soon, sending you lots of well wishes from the other side of the screen <3 i think i went a little overboard with tighnari because this was my first chance to write him ^^;;, but i still hope you can enjoy :D

content notes; gn!reader, reader is referred to as (y/n), possible ooc characters, a lot of mentions of being sick and if that makes you uncomfy please don't read this, do flu seasons exist in genshin?

CYNO ♡

he honestly picked up quickly about how quickly you got sick

he has pretty sharp senses so he would catch on quickly if you got sick

a sniffle, a sneeze, or a cough would cause him to drag you to rest

don't even try to claim that you're fine because he isn't buying it

he's putting you in your bed to rest and that's final!

cyno isn't really the biggest expert when it comes to sickness

sure, he's gotten sick here and there, but it only tended to last a few days

he has a strong immune system

plus he refuses to believe he's actually sick when he is

he'll probably pay a visit to tighnari or even ask candace about the best way to get rid of your sickness

he makes you some recipes that candace recommended and makes sure that you take your medicine

he probably tells you some bad jokes or stories to bring up the mood while you're in bedrest

considering you get sick easily, cyno oftentimes fusses over you before you leave the house

especially if it's in the colder months

he tries his best to take precautions to keep sickness away during flu seasons

you still get sick, but honestly, with his help, it's calmed down

TIGHNARI (ft. COLLEI) ♡

he fusses over you a lot

he honestly does it a lot on a daily basis already, but it just increases when you're sick

whenever you're sick, you'll find yourself staying in bed almost the entire time

tighnari doesn't like letting you out of his sights out of fear of you fainting and hurting yourself

he's honestly very good at helping you get better

his past experiences with helping collei and other children make him quite qualified

speaking of collei-

she's also part of the 'fussing of sick (y/n) squad'

she hates it when she gets sick herself

so she tries her best to cheer you up and talk with you whenever she can

tighnari often leaves her to watch over you whenever he's needed out in the forest

back to tighnari, he sits next to your bed while you sleep

his species is nocturnal (according to my two google searches), so he tends to just watch you sleep for a bit

if you ever wake up in the night, he'll ask you about how feel or you need something

whenever you guys go out, like cyno, he also takes precautions to minimize your possibility of getting sick

if you guys are in the parts of the forest where there's rain, tighnari makes sure you have a sweater on and you are blocked from the rain

you even get to tuck your hands in his tail while you guys walk around

collei tries her best to knit you a scarf for the winter months

it didn't come out as well as she hoped, but you still use it

with another one on top, which tighnari made, for extra precaution

all in all, a very good duo to cure your sicknesses

#genshin x reader #genshin impact #genshin x y/n #genshin x you #genshin cyno #genshin cyno x reader #cyno x you #cyno x y/n #cyno x reader #genshin tighnari #tighnari #tighnari x reader #tighnari x y/n #tighnari x you

[depressopax]

Hi!!! if it's okay (and if your request is still open) I was wondering if I could request a fluff scenario for Jimmy McGill? :D where he gets all soft and loving sjdjdj can be both sfw and nsfw ... thank you !! ♡

Thank you for the request!!! <3 Been meaning to write about Jimmy for quite a while, so this was the perfect sign to do it lmaooo I was gonna do a NSFW too but realized that the SFW version was at 1K word already 💀 Will do a part 2 tho!  Oh well, enjoy these cheesy Jimmy headcanons 🥹🫶

Jimmy McGill relationships headcanons

Fandom - Breaking Bad/Better call Saul

Jimmy x gn!reader || SFW HC's

Pairing: Jimmy McGill/Saul Goodman x gender-neutral reader Genre: Fluff, headcanons Warning(s): None that I can think off?? Cuss words maybe, slightly angsty Jimmy lol. Reader is gender-neutral and referred to as "partner" and gn!pet-names. Words: 1.1K Summary: Being in a relationship with Jimmy McGill would include... English is not my main language, if I make any spelling mistakes please let me know so I can improve my writing! <3 || AO3 link || Masterlist || Request || NSFW version ||

Jimmy is not good at figuring out his feelings.

That’s why it took him a while to realize he’d fallen in love with you. 

It’d take some time for him to accept what he’s feeling though.

Homeboy would be in denial at first. He’s scared to fall in love with someone, in fear of commitment and getting hurt etc…

But he’d show interest in other ways, without realizing it himself.

We’re talking about cheesy stuff: - Always looking good (and that’s not so difficult, HE GORGEOUSSSSS 👀) - Trying to impress you with his knowledge about things - Making sure to say something funny and make others laugh when you’re around, to let you know how funny and amazing he is lol - Compliments and teasing 

Noticing his attempt, you straight up ask him about it. “...Do you like me, Jimmy?” “What?? I-” … “Yes. I do.”

Once it’s said and done, he eventually asks you out on a date.

Listen… Jimmy may be overconfident, especially when it comes to his seduction skills

However, there’s something about you that makes him nervous.

What you think about him and how he comes across matters to him.

That’s why he plans a date weeks ahead, trying to make everything perfect

He tries figuring out what you like and dislike so he can use that to make a good impression. 

He takes you out to some fancy restaurant (RIP early season Jimmy’s wallet 😭)

The date goes well and he is very smug with his effort.

After a few dates, Jimmy realizes he’s fallen for you.

At first he tries to hide it. He doesn’t want to come across as “desperate” or “needy”. 

But then again… He’s not good at hiding his true feelings.

Luckily, you feel the same and eventually you become a couple for real. 

He was the first one to say “I love you”, and did so without realizing it.

You were leaving for work or something and he just goes: “Bye, love ya!” Completely flustered when he heard what he just said.

When you say it back, he feels a wave of relief. 

After that, he makes sure to say ILY as often as he can.

He won’t shut up about you. Like ever. 

“So then my partner said…” “My partner brought me this shirt!” “I’m taking my babe out on a date tonight” And everyone else will eventually be like: 😐”Shut up”😐

He’ll refer to you as his spouse/wife/husband, watching everyone confused “You’re married?” “I will be soon” 🤭

Jimmy’s a sucker for cute pet names. And yeah, some of them are probably “cringe” but that won’t stop him 

Baby, Boo, Sugar, Sweetie, Hot stuff, Doll, Kitten (😭)

He loves it when you wear his shirts. Especially as lounge clothing or when sleeping.

Jimmy also finds matching outfits adorable. 

Would probably take you shopping for either suits/blazers or just hoodies that you can match. 

He also buys matching jewelry, towels, morning robes etc etc… He’s one of those guys 😭

He has a picture of you standing on the desk in his office, as a way to carry the sweetheart with him all the time. 

…And also to brag about you to anyone that enters his office (but he puts the picture away when dealing with some of his unpredictable clients, homeboy is overprotective)

Speaking of being overprotective: He deals with a lot of shady people, so he’s very careful with who he chooses to trust when it comes to talking his love to you.

He prioritizes your safety over anything else. 

Ofc he’s scared for his own safety too, but pretty much puts it aside to make sure you’re safe first off. 

If danger comes up, he’d make sure to find somewhere safe for you to stay whilst he deals with it.

He would go so far as hiring a bodyguard for you tbh.

Being with him might be a struggle too

Homeboy is a bit unpredictable and impulsive

Doing stupid things is his speciality- 😭

No but literally, you’ll sometimes have to stop him from acting out on his weird revenge ideas or stuff that could get him into trouble.

“I was just gonna-” “No.” “But…” “Jimmy, no.” 

Sometimes you succeed, sometimes you don’t. But you love him either ways. <3

He also likes talking shit about people with you *cough* probably Howard *cough* - sure, a bit rude - but he finds it hilarious lol 

Lot of in-jokes between you and him

Jimmy is a daydreamer and is easily distracted

Especially by you.

He sometimes gets stuck thinking about you when doing boring work.

Until Francesca tells him to pull himself together lmao

Jimmy spends all possible time together with you. 

He is ambitious and serious about work, but after you and him became a couple his priorities changed. 

He finds time to spend with you. Last thing he wants is for you to feel like he cares more about work than he does for you.

If you’re adventurous and like being outdoors, he does too.

But honestly? He prefers cuddling at home and watching movies with you.

He is not a good chef, so he buys a lot of food from restaurants and brings it home if you’ve had a long day at work.

He makes sure to be a romantic bastard too. 

Candlelit dinners, taking baths together, picnics… You name it. He loves spoiling you. 

He wouldn’t admit it to anyone else but hear me out… Home-spa dates 👀

He did use to have his office at a nail salon, so he knows his way around those things

If you allow him to, he likes painting your nails - with him choosing the color

Like I said, Jimmy enjoys cuddling you.

He has a lot of feelings, traumas etc pent up, which he dares to let out around you.

He has learnt that he can be vulnerable with you and not get judged, which he appreciates.

That’s why he loves coming home to you after a long day and simply resting in your arms.

He prefers being the little spoon - to feel protected and loved by you. <3

To summarize: It might take him a while to put the pieces together and actually confess his feelings for you - but once he does he spends every day letting you know how much you mean to him.

I just remembered why I love Jimmy sm AHHH he deserves love and happiness <3<3 Part 2 soon!

#better call saul #jimmy mcgill #x reader #jimmy mcgill x reader #jimmy mcgill x gn!reader #breaking bad #brbabcs #fluff #drabble #relationship headcanons #sfw headcanons #better call saul x reader #jimmy mcgill scenario #saul goodman #saul goodman x reader #breaking bad smut #fanfic writing #fanfic authors #fanfiction writer #x gender neutral reader #gender neutral reader #breaking bad fanfic #breaking bad fanfiction #breaking bad fluff #better call saul fluff #fanfics #ao3 fanfic #bcs fanart #fanfic readers #fanfic writers

[suhnshinehaos]

#dv01

a treacherous bonus update where the band releases their first album

series synopsis : after a couple of instances of accidental matching clothing, yangyang finds himself in a dating rumor with possibly the most famous person on campus : yn, the bassist of an up and coming band. yangyang doesn’t seem to have a problem with it. unfortunately yn, who has also built up a reputation for being cold as winter, does. pairing : liu yangyang x gn!reader genre/s : university au, student council + band au, fluff, angst, humor

treacherous  ➤  masterlist 

# the dv self-titled album ➤  spotify playlist

# TRACKS

[ original artists in parenthesis , lyrics indented , band writing and vocal "credits" below ]

01. " time of our life " [ day6 ]

i'll be honest, i've been waiting a long time i believe you did too

written by dreamvision, vocals by xj, mk, gy, hd

02. " alrighty aphrodite " [ peach pit ]

if i'd known you sold on maybe then, i'd've let you waste another guy

written by mk and xj, vocals by xj

03. " dive into you " [ nct dream ]

i wonder where i am in the middle of your heart

written by hd, mk, and xj , vocals by xj, mk, gy, and hd

04. " i'm in love with you " [ the 1975 ]

there's somethin' i've been meaning to say to you, baby, but i just can't do it

written by mk, xj, and hd, vocals by xj and hd + backing vocals by mk and gy

05. " still feel. " [ half alive ]

when it is hopeless, i start to notice that i still feel alive

written by dreamvision, vocals by xj

06. " 99% " [ cnblue ]

i love myself more

written by gy and hd, vocals by xj and gy

07. " eraser " [ onewe ]

even if you turn around and come back, in the end you are a good memory

written by gy, hd, and xj , vocals by xj and mk

08. " for lovers who hesitate " [ jannabi ]

i'd rather miss you than leave regrets, it's better to be sick

written by dreamvision, vocals by xj

09. " all i wanted " [ paramore ]

i could follow you to the beginning, and just to relive the start

written by dreamvision, vocals by xj

10. " lost " [ 1415 ]

i will miss you and wait

written by mk and gy, lead vocals by xj + backing vocals by gy

11. " summer fiction " [ we are the night ]

i feel like I've been caught, through the seasons, through the city

written by mk and gy, vocals by xj

12. " leave myself " [ phonebooth ]

the things we left behind, and the place we had to leave behind

written by xj and gy, vocals by xj

13. " rooftop " [ n.flying ]

you took my hand to look at the stars, sitting on the rooftop in the evening sunset

written by dreamvision, vocals by xj, mk, gy, hd

-- bonus tracks --

14. " for the fickle " [ reese lansangan ]

empty your hands and hold me, give me steady love

written and performed by gy

15. " treacherous " [ taylor swift ]

your name has echoed through my mind, and I just think you should, think you should know

originally by taylor swift, cover by dreamvision, vocals by xj and gy

# REACTIONS

from reese, with love <3

sorry that's it's taking a white for me to update, been trying to get back into writing and updating regularly while also getting some post-thesis rest >_< thank you for reading, i'd really love to know what you think :) act three will be coming soon... i just don't know how soon huhu

#🌙 — treacherous! #nct x reader #wayv x reader #yangyang x reader #nct imagines #nct fluff #nct smau #wayv imagines #wayv fluff #wayv smau #yangyang imagines #yangyang fluff #yangyang smau #yangyang scenarios

[nancydrewwouldnever]

Well, well, well, I guess the Reed Richards rumors were true 👀

I just hope this Fantastic Four is better than the last 3 attempts.

https://x.com/discussingfilm/status/1755247279445795158?s=46&t=d5RpNENotdfYlPAFy-_JDQ

Okay, this comes from the SAG-AFTRA page the tweet references:

The only thing I'm wondering is that there was news TLoU season 2 is to begin filming soon-ish. So I'm not sure how he would manage filming two things at once. (And, to my eyes at least, it looks like he's growing out Joel's unkempt hair.)

I guess the Marvel paycheck was too big to refuse.

#ask #pedro pascal

[saltydkdan]

hi im sure youve been asked this a million bajillion times before but is there an estimated date for when Friendlocke S3 highlights will start coming to youtube?

Okay so, this is a loaded answer so STRAP IN:

I don't want to rush it this time, so probably sometime before the year ends, and here's why:

For Season 1, I finished editing all of the videos, and then posted them "Bingewatch" style in a short span of 2 weeks. To me? That's optimal.

On the flipside, for Season 2, I rushed myself too hard, and ended up posting stuff WAYYY too early, and thus, Season 2's highlight videos were posted over the span of an entire year (YIKES)

This lead to Friendlocke effectively taking over my channel for a while, which I don't want. I want it to be one of the many series and videos on the channel! And for people who aren't interested to not get bombarded with it over a longer period.

The way Season 2 was handled is NOT happening again. So in an effort to not "grind stuff out for content" and appease the algorithm, I'm taking my time with it alongside a bunch of my bigger projects!

I am in NO RUSH, and I apologize if that stinks to hear, but I want to make sure these videos are REALLY good. Like, on par with previous seasons or even BETTER.

If you want to know my current progress, since you've been so kind to read my word vomit:

The Season is looking to have 6 episodes, much like Season 2!

The way the editing pipeline works for Friendlocke is that it's broken into 3 chunks. The Base Edit, the Salty Edit, and Final Additions.

"Base Edits" are done first, and are the video editing work done by my wonderful Editors (i.e. Tracey, Rusty, RasenDan, e.t.c.)! These edits are where they chop up the best/most important bits, and add some of their own visual/audio gags.

The "Base Edits" of episodes 1-4 are all complete, with 5 and 6 currently being worked on.

The "Salty Edit" is exactly what it sounds like, it's my draft of the Base Edits! I basically do my own round of editing of the previous drafts, making tweaks, adding jokes, and working on scripted segments to stitch events together where needed!

I haven't done much of my edits yet, as I'm focused on the Jojo Iceberg and bringing back some other videos, but I have been working behind the scenes on:

Final Additions! These are usually the last wave of edits, focused on adding in animation, music, and other things. While these are usually added in last, I have to coordinate with artists and animators fairly early on to make sure nobody has to crunch. Basically, as soon as I know a portion needs animation, or we have enough material for it, I talk to them immediately and start planning for it to be added later!

ANYWAY, sorry for the long blurb. Hope this all helps while I keep working on stuff in the meantime!

#salty asks #saltydkdan #friendlocke

[nightmare-grass]

My Adventures With Superman: Where do we go from here?

- This show takes on the Superman origin story but focuses on his beginning as a young adult superhero, which is different from nearly every other depiction. He seems just out of college, like he’s 20 or 21. This would mean everyone else in the DC universe is younger too.

- People often compare Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent on equal grounds, like they’re supposed to be the same age, so maybe they’re going to be? I don’t know if this show is ever gonna branch out and show other superheroes, other places besides Smallville and Metropolis, but it’s a fun thought exercise.

- So maybe Bruce Wayne is also just starting his Batman journey. He might be in Gotham in a self-made suit, like in Matt Reeves’ The Batman, or he might be training all over the world still. We know Bruce is a genius, so he can learn any subject he wants in a shorter time than normal, so he might’ve skipped college to travel the world right after high school, training with the best fighters and the League of Assassins and studying college-level texts on the side because he’s just extra like that. 18 at the beginning of his training, and there’s varying accounts of how long his training took. Some say 7 years, some say 12 years, and that makes sense.

- If we want reporter Clark Kent interacting with billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne at all, we can’t have them be the same age. So! I propose a future season where we finally get more superheroes interacting with Superman so he can feel less alone in the world. For that, Bruce Wayne would just be returned home after a 7 year absence learning abroad. He’d be about 4 years older than Clark, but he’d be perturbed by their lack of height difference. Bruce wants to start his crusade against the criminal underbelly of his hometown, Gotham City, but to have the perfect cover story he needs to play up the rich fail son front of Bruce Wayne, and he’s not pleased about this perceptive reporter from Metropolis who’s built like a brick shithouse. See, Bruce isn’t dumb, and he keeps up on the news, especially about global security threats. Bruce knows about Superman, and he has his theories, but he develops a new theory once he meets Clark.

- Wonder Woman is immortal but people don’t necessarily know that. Wonder Woman is an urban legend Clark learned about in history class when talking about World War 1, World War 2, all the biggest global conflicts in human history. A goddess who comes out of nowhere, saves the day, and disappears for decades at a time. Diana Prince, however, is a mild mannered museum associate. As an immortal warrior born of clay, she always looks like a woman in her upper 20’s and speaks like a woman who is centuries wise. She keeps to herself mostly, but she keeps close tabs on global security threats, like Bruce does. She knew as soon as Superman came on the scene that she didn’t need to get involved as much anymore. She barely held herself back on Zero Day because the US government was all over that, and it would’ve been too high profile if she’d been involved. It didn’t even last long enough for her to fly over to help.

- In the comics, Bruce Wayne adopts the newly orphaned Dick Grayson when he’s 27. That means if I start Bruce Wayne at 18, give him 7 years of training, making him 25, and make him 3 years older than Clark at the beginning of the story, meaning Clark is 22 when Bruce is 25, then he gets to be Batman for 2 years before running into Dick Grayson, 10 year old, and adopting him. Then, he gives Dick a few months of training before letting him become Robin, so we have 27 year old Bruce, 10 year old Dick, and 24 year old Clark.

- The comics also say Bruce was 34 when he adopts a 12 year old Jason Todd. That means Dick was Robin for 7 years before he and Bruce had a falling out and Dick went solo, becoming Nightwing. Dick and Jason should have a 5 year age difference, if Dick was 17 when Jason was 12. Then, there’s a bit of time fuckery when it comes to Jason because he dies and gets resurrected as Red Hood. Jason dies at 15, and gets resurrected in the Lazarus Pit 3 years after his death, making him effectively 18 when he comes back. Bruce would be 39 at the time of Jason’s death, and 42 at the time of Jason’s resurrection.

- Superman would be 31 when Dick becomes Nightwing and Jason becomes Robin, then 36 when Jason dies, then 39 when Jason comes back as Red Hood. I think that fits rather well.

- Tim Drake came along only a short while after Jason’s death, like a month or so, so Bruce is 39 when a 14 year old Tim Drake becomes the third Robin. Clark would be 36 at this point still. And then Tim becomes Red Robin at age 17, following in the footsteps of his hero Nightwing who also went solo at 17. Tim spends 3 years being Robin, meaning he spends the time Jason is dead being the third Robin.

- Comics place Bruce meeting his son Damian at age 43, meaning it’s a year after Jason comes back and suddenly he’s got a new son he never knew about. Talia left Damian with Bruce when Damian was 10, following the grand Robin-adopting tradition. This means Damian was conceived when Bruce was 33, right before he met and adopted Jason Todd. Superman becomes 40 at the point where Damian is adopted as the new Robin.

- With this timeline, it’s difficult finding spaces for Barbara, Stephanie, Cassandra, Duke, and all the other important Bat Family members, but it’s not impossible.

#I call Nightwing Tim’s hero because he was a fan of the Flying Graysons and that’s how he discovered Robin’s secret identity and Batman’s #maws #my adventures with Superman #dcau #dc #Superman #Batman #bat family #Wonder Woman #dc superheroes

[qlossytbh]

hi i found your blog today and i loved your imagines, i was wondering if you can make one that the reader is feeling sad and distressed (there is no specific reason) and jj will comfort her 🙃

𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐬 - 𝐣𝐣𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐱 𝐟𝐞𝐦!𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬 after so many constant pushes of life itself, the reader breaks down and only one person is able to truly calm her down

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 swearing, drugs, underage drinking, mentions of sex, mental burnout, lots of things lmao

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 4.7k

𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 i am backkk!! got back into my obx obsession since season 3 is coming and decided to get some requests done :)

𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

“I'm so sorry sir,” You sighed heavily as the older man eyed you down angrily. “I'll fix that up right now for you.”

You gave him a weak smile and pulled away his food. You weren't going to argue with him because although the older man would deny it, he did in fact order his fries on a separate plate from his burger. But the face of confusion that slowly shifted into rage after you had set down his food immediately made you realize this was not going to be a pleasant customer. 

You made your way to the kitchen counter and asked Mike Carrera if he could transfer the fries to the plate of the burger since he was the only one available in the kitchen. As you wait, you take in what the wreck looked like. 

People were flooding in and out of the restaurant. Loud chattering and movement was heard all throughout. You watched the servers rush back and forth, from table to table and customer to customer. The wreck was heavily understaffed and for the amount of people you were all attending, three servers, being you, Kiara and the newest member was clearly not enough. 

The bell rang behind you, causing you to snap out of your thoughts. Automatically you thanked Mike and took the food over to the table in a hurry. 

“Here you go Sir,” You offered him a smile as you put the plate down onto the table. He inspected the plate thoroughly and soon shook his head. 

“This isn't the same burger.” His low gravel-like voice called out. Your body tensed as you strained a smile. 

“Oh no, we didn't change the food sir, we just added the fries on the order like you-”

“I'm telling you, this isn't the same.” He huffed loudly. You felt your body strain as you sucked in a breath. 

“Sir, I can assure you-” 

“Don't patronize me little girl, I'm sick of this. This place can't even offer good food yet alone a server who isnt as incompetent as you are.” He said as he got up. You suddenly felt small. He slammed a dollar bill on the table in front of you, causing you to flinch as you opened your mouth to speak. The exhaustion in your body prevented you from protesting as he left the place grumpily. 

You let out a deep sigh and sat down at the table. Your ankles were pulsating, your head was throbbing, your eyes burned. Everything and anything hurt. You rubbed your eyes and then placed your chin into the palm of your hand as you stared down at the dollar bill. You then shoved a fry into your mouth. 

You were too mentally exhausted to overthink how you had just been treated. Many men and women had walked in and out of the wreck these past weeks with the same attitude and being such a push over when it came to serving, you were the one who had to take in all of the shit they threw at you. You know Kiara flipped them off most of the time, but you felt some moral obligation to submit to their insults because they did pay your tips.

Speaking of, the dollar tip the man had just left was what you were counting on to buy JJ his present for his birthday tomorrow. The tips you were paid these past two weeks wasn't nearly enough to get him something. The frustration of wanting to get him what he deserved but not being able to was becoming unbearable. 

‘I'll just use my savings,’ You thought.

These past weeks caused your body to now go into survival mode. You were running on nothing but coffee and a single french fry so far. You were working two jobs, one of them with a 7 to 12 hour shift, depending on the day. You were acing all your tests but at the cost of countless sleepless nights. You were out helping John B and JJ survive on their own at the Chateau by making them week's worth of dinners and lunches ensuring that they wouldn't starve. On top of that, you had to pay your own rent and food, which was at the bottom of your priorities right now, but it was still nagging at you in the back of your mind. 

Your body couldn't take it anymore. You were burnt out. Mentally and physically. All you could do was fantasize about slipping your shoes off and crying all of this week's and last's stress into your pillow when you got back home tonight. You also had to deal with the stress of getting JJ a good birthday present. 

“Y/N, food isn't going to serve itself!” You heard someone shout from the kitchen. You groaned and whined quietly as you forced your small feet back into action. 

“Y/N!” Kiara called over. You took a deep breath. All of the exhaustion also led you to be extremely irritable, so being called around was beginning to get on your nerves. But you contained yourself, like always. 

“Hm?” You hummed softly, turning towards your friend. She smiled at you. She looked good. Not so much like a living corpse. The glow in her face was something you took notice of. That's the paradise of having Kook parents, you assumed. 

“We're going over to the Chateau after our shift, do you want to come?” 

You pursed your lips. With all the stress, you realized you had begun pulling away from friend group activities but not because you didn't want to be there but because you didn't have any time or energy to do so.   

“I don't know..” You sighed. You shifted back and forth on your heels. “I have a lot of things to get done tonight.” 

“Come on,” Kiara nudged your shoulder with her fist, which only strained your smile. “We're gonna have a small bonfire with the guys, maybe a few beers here and there…”

Her voice trailed off as she smiled at you widely trying to convince you. Were the bags under your eyes and the messy hair not enough for her to realize you were utterly exhausted? 

“I don't think I can make it Kie,” You rubbed the back of your neck as Kiara deadpanned at you. “I have to buy JJ his present and then I have to get some math homework done, I also have to reschedule my shift from-” 

“You work too hard dude,” She placed her hands on your shoulders and shook you back and forth. “Maybe just let loose a little? For tonight?”

You felt your ankles pulsate once more. A break would be nice, and you knew that for a fact, but you couldn't let yourself stop. If you stopped, you were going to collapse, and you needed to get everything done.

“Drink for me tonight will you?” You flicked her cheek which she protested at. “And don't let John B pull the same shit he did last time.”

You pulled out your notepad to take orders and pushed past Kiara who sighed deeply. Your friends noticed your absence, but they also knew how much of a perfectionist you were. You were always off running errands or getting something done, which is why they weren't completely concerned. They usually just teased you for always being on edge and with something to get finished. 

You ran as fast as you could towards the deck where your friends were waiting for you. You had gotten about 3 hours of sleep last night finishing math and physics homework before having to run out at 7am to babysit one of the kids you were responsible for. The job finished before lunch since you had to be at the deck where the HMS Pogue took off from. 

JJ stated that all he wanted for his birthday was to spend the day on the small boat, ‘drinking beers, smoking blunts and spending time with his favorite dumbasses’. If there was anything JJ wasn't, it was complicated, so everyone agreed to his birthday wish. You did however offer to cook dinner and a cake at the end of the day, which no one complained to. 

You were running a bit late which is why you were running as fast as you were, shooting a few clumsy and panicked sorrys at people who told you to watch it after nearly crashing into them. 

John B saw you first. “Took you long enough!”

“Sorry, sorry, sorry!” You fumbled as you wasted no time on tossing your bag into the boat and jumping in, nearly slipping. Once on the boat, you leaned over trying to catch your breath. “I’m here-”

Pope and John B eyed you as you took in a few staggered breaths. Kiara came up behind you and rubbed your back. “There she is.”

“Hey guys,” You gave them all a clumsy smile. Sarah was walking towards the boat with JJ by her side and a big cooler in hand. When you locked eyes with JJ you smiled. His face lit up at the sight of you since you hadn't seen him for about three days due to how much work you had been doing. 

“Y/N!” Sarah smiled widely as she quickly made her way onto the boat and attacked you in a bear hug. You let out a small huff of air due to the impact and quickly hugged her back. 

“Hey S,” You rubbed her back and sighed. You missed this, missed spending time with them. She pulled away, giving you a soft peck on the cheek. 

“Back off blondie, its my turn,” JJ interrupted, pushing Sarah to the side. He crouched down slightly to wrap his arms around your waist and lifted you up, hugging you as tight as possible. You let out a strain of giggles, burying your head in his neck and hugging him just as tightly as he spun you around. 

Once he put you down, you looked up at him as he tucked a stray hair behind your ear. “Happy birthday Jay,”

He hummed softly and cupped your cheeks, pecking you on the lips softly. The kiss was gentle but needy and the grasp he had on you was firm. You hummed before John B started fake gagging. 

“I think, fuck, I think im gonna-” He said between gags as you pulled away and rolled your eyes. 

“Listen, I haven't seen my girlfriend in three days,” JJ pointed a warning finger at him. “Let me live.”

“Oh the horror!” Kiara gasped sarcastically.

“I know, I feel deprived and neglected.” He said, moving behind you and hugging you from behind, setting his head on your shoulder. 

“Yeah, you have been MIA recently,” John B interjected. “You aren't getting tired of us are you?”

You tensed. Did they really think that? He said it in a teasing manner, but maybe, there was truth hidden behind it..? Did they feel like you didn't want to hang around them anymore? Did Kiara say something that maybe sounded like you were avoiding them? 

“What? No.” You came off more defensive than you would have liked. “I've just been busy.” Pope shot you an odd look. You swallowed the thick anxiety that pooled in the bottom of your stomach. 

“Anyways,” You said, taking in a deep breath of air. “Are we gonna stay here all day or…”

JJ tightened his grip on your waist. “I mean I'm not complaining.” 

“Yeah, no.” John B turned around and got behind the boat's engine, getting ready to take off. Kiara and Pope grabbed the cooler and began unpacking the food and drinks from the inside as John B left the deck area. 

You turned to JJ, feeling the soft rumbling of the engine beneath your feet. His arms rested on your hips as he hooked his thumbs in the fabric of your pockets. He looked down at you and you began smiling. 

“What's that look for?” You asked, suddenly intimidated by his stare.

“I just forgot how it felt to look at your pretty face,” He teased, kissing your cheek. You slapped his chest gently and looked at him in shock

“It took you three days to forget!?” You placed your hand on your chest. “I'm offended.”

“The joints I've been smoking were just too good,” He looked up. “Made me forget all about ya’”

“You are so not getting any of the stuff I planned for you today,” You crossed your arms and his face fell. 

“Did I say forget? I meant temporary amnesia,” He said, shifting on his feet. “Tell me.”

“Go smoke a joint, maybe it'll help you forget I ever said anything.” You responded. He suddenly crouched down and grabbed you, throwing you over his shoulder with ease. You were much smaller than him after all.

Your screams and laughter filled the air as JJ carefully moved closer to the edge of the boat. You gripped at his back as he pulled you close to the edge. The boat was still moving towards your destination which caused you to panic slightly thinking he'd toss you over. 

“JJ Maybank, don't you dare.” You warned. He kept moving towards the edge which caused you to continue to squirm. You felt your heart swell up with joy. God, you haven't been this happy in a while. You then grabbed the hair that sat at the nape of his neck and began to pull on it. 

“Ow, ow, ow!” His body tensed as he pulled away from the edge and immediately let you down, but your fingers remained tugging on the small blonde hair. 

“What do you say?” 

“Please, please-” You let him go and he sighed dramatically. He glared at you while rubbing the back of his neck but all you could do was smirk back. “That hurts.”

“Thought you were into that shit.” 

“Different context babe,”

“Okay, ew.” You furrow your brows as your cheeks heat up slightly. JJ reached over and took you by the hand, pulling you closer. You smiled up at him and leaned in, kissing him softly. 

You missed his touch, and how it made you feel. Being with JJ somehow made you forget about all the responsibilities you had been tossing onto your plate these past weeks, and by not being able to take any breaks, you were in need of the distraction your boyfriend provided. 

He pulled away and reached for the cap that laid on his head. He placed it backward on your head and tucked the small baby hairs behind your ears as he looked down at you in admiration. 

“I missed this,” You confessed softly. 

“Hmm,” He pecked your lips once more. “So did I.”

The boat stopped moving suddenly and you turned to John B who announced the arrival to your usual spot. Sarah and Kiara headed straight for the beer as they began tossing everyone a can. Before JJ was able to make his way over you grabbed his hand and whispered. 

“Your present is back at the Chateau, i'll give it to you tonight.” He turned and gave you a look while you just smiled back innocently. 

JJ made his way over to the beers where Sarah, Kiara and Pope were already sipping on theirs. John B walked up to you. 

“Hey,” He said. “You got the things to make grilled cheese with tomato soup tonight?” 

Your smile fell. You assumed JJ would have wanted you to make his favorite pizza, the one you always made for him every year on his birthday. You had gotten ingredients for that, not grilled fucking cheese. 

“What?” You looked at him with panic in your eyes “I got stuff to make Pizza, did JJ say he wanted grilled cheese?”

“Uh, I think so?” He shrugged it off as if it wasn't a big deal. You pinched your nose. 

“Did you not think ahead to let me know? I could've stopped by and got cheese and bread and-” You stopped. “Fuck, is he even going to like the pizza?”

John B raised a brow at you. “Well, JJ is a simple person, I don't think he really cares what we eat, as long as its food”

“But I-” You took a deep breath. 

Your paranoia was beginning to come up again. This happens all the time. You plan something ahead of time thinking its perfect and a second option pops up and you begin doubting everything you planned ahead of time, which causes a huge stress wave. You wanted JJ to get every single thing he wanted today and you wanted it to be special, but how could it be special and perfect if you already screwed up dinner. 

“Y/N,” John B cut through. “It's fine, really. JJ won't care.”

You nodded but John B could see the uneasiness in your eyes. He noticed the panicky look that settled subtly between your features. “You ok? You seem on edge recently.”

“Yeah, no.” You rub your temples. “I'm fine, just a little bit stressed.”

He wasn't convinced, and neither were you. “Right.”

Kiara let out a scream. When you looked over, Pope was pulling her by the arm as they both fell over the edge and into the water. John B took one last look at you before placing a hand on your shoulder and heading over to Sarah. 

You chopped the green onions quickly before rushing over the counter and passing Sarah and John B the cups they asked for. 

“Y/N, do you know where the chips are?” Pope asked. Your mind was multitasking, as you continued chopping the rest of the vegetables you looked up and pointed to the bag in the corner of the kitchen. 

“Right there Pope,” You turned to JJ who sat on the other side of the bar. “Jay, can you pass me the garlic powder?”

He turned to you from his conversation with John B and tossed you the garlic powder that stood right next to his elbow. He then continued talking to John B and Sarah as you tossed the veggies into a bowl and dusted your hands. 

You looked like a complete mess. Your hair was everywhere, there was flour all over your face and clothes. The bags under your eyes were more visible than ever and your ankles were pulsating once again. Everything hurt, even your back was pulsating, begging you to sit down and take a break.

You had been overthinking the whole pizza and grilled cheese incident since John B mentioned it and it ruined your mood all day.

Not to mention how you only managed to finish a page of homework while on the boat, even though you planned to finish three pages. You also got a call from your landlord who informed you about a new bill you had to pay by the end of the month. 

You thought for a day you would be able to escape the reality of life, and for a second you thought you would be able to, but it all caught up to you. And you couldn't mentally or physically take anything else. Your plate was beginning to overflow, but you refused getting anything taken off or asking for help. 

“Kiara, can you get me the parmesan cheese from the fridge?” You asked as you washed a spatula clean. 

“Do you need any help Y/N?” Sarah offered from her spot between JJ and John B. Your movements had quickly become raggedy and tense, and you were moving quickly and breathing heavily. Sarah noticed this as you looked around the counter desperately. 

“No, that's fine Sarah-” You scanned the counter for the salt and groaned when you couldn't find it. “Where did I leave the damn salt?”

JJ’s smile faltered. The tone in your voice concerned the three. It was suddenly on edge and tense as your eyes moved all across the counter. John B looked over at JJ who shared an equally confused look. JJ got up and made his way over to the kitchen aisle. 

He set his hands on your shoulders and leaned down to you, causing you to flinch. “Why don't you sit down for a few minutes-”

“No, no it's okay, I just need to find the salt-”

“The parmesan isn't here,” Kiara announced, moving away from the fridge. You turned your head towards him. 

“What?” You said, panic rising for the twelfth time this day. “That's impossible.”

You rushed over to the fridge and scanned it a couple of times before realizing that you had indeed forgotten the parmesan cheese. You groaned and felt the back of your eyes burning with tears threatening to spill. 

“Let me find this damn salt first,” You rushed back to the counter and began organizing things in an attempt to get the salt to appear. 

“Y/N, I think you should really just sit and-”

“It's fine, let me just find the salt..” Your hands began to shake as you reached across the counter. Your body shifted and ended up accidentally shoving the gallon of milk you had used for the recipe onto the floor. “Fuck!”

You quickly reached down and grabbed the milk before more could spill out. You took in the mess and that's when everything fell right onto your shoulders.

The stress, the overwhelming stress, it all became too much. Working, social life, paying debts, making sure your grades were ok and everything was going decently, it was all too much. You had become so mentally burnout that your body was failing you. You were shaking and you had no more strength or energy in you. 

“Fuck!” You shot as you slammed the milk onto the counter. You took in a deep shaky breath through your nostrils as tears began brimming your eyes. You steadied yourself on the counter and took a few deep breaths, but the sobs were just threatening to spill out of your mouth. 

“I-Im sorry,” You whispered, rubbing your forehead as tears fell unconsciously from your eyes. Everyone was silent, watching you slowly fall apart. 

“Let me just clean this up,” You wiped the tears from your cheeks away but before you could reach over for a cloth, JJ stood in front of you. 

“Okay,” He said, reaching for your wrist and slowly removing the cloth from your grip. You stopped but you didn't want to because as soon as you stopped, everything was going to catch up to you. 

“Kie, can you run to the store with Pope to get some cheese? Any kind, just get cheese,” He ordered as he began leading you by the shoulders out of the kitchen. “John B, Sarah, can you help with the mess?”

Everyone nodded silently as you kept your head down and silent. JJ then turned and began pushing you to his room. He led you in and closed the door behind him. “Y/N, what the hell?” 

You kept your head down in embarrassment as you kept wiping away the tears that were falling out. “I’m fine-”

“No, you're not. And you need to tell me what's going on.” His voice sounded cold and firm and you hated it. You looked up at him and finally managed to look him in the eye. 

There was a softness in his gaze. He was worried. You could see the concern in his eyes and the crease in his brows that led you to think all he wanted to do was help you. 

“Nothing-” You wiped your cheeks and all the tears that were on them away. “Im just-”

You closed your mouth as you moved to the bed and sat on the edge, finally releasing the pain in your ankles. You felt so small and so vulnerable and so exhausted and you hated it all. You rubbed your temples and let your arms fall to your lap. 

“I'm so tired JJ,” You whisper as a single sob breaks through your lips and to JJ, it's heartbreaking. You finally break, right there in that room in front of him and for some reason, you can't bring yourself to care because of how mentally and physically tired you feel. 

JJ walks over and sits next to you. He wraps his arms around you and you cry into his chest. You let it all out, all the stress, the expectations you put on yourself, the insults. All of it. 

With every sob you let out, JJ’s heart broke a little more. He had seen you like this a few times before, but it never became easier. He wasn't the best at catching these things early, and you had a habit of keeping things to yourself until you reached your breaking point. 

“This is so stupid,” You said as you choke on your own words. “It's your birthday and I'm crying,”

JJ didn't say anything, he just let you rant. He did however slip his hand into yours and squeezed it reassuringly.

“People have been so mean to me at the wreck and I seem to be doing everything wrong. I've slept a total of 7 hours this week and I've been stressed with school and life because I have so many debts to pay like my rent, food and god my ankles hurt!” You groaned in annoyance. You stopped rambling and looked at him before letting out a frustrated sigh. “Today is your birthday.”

JJ furrowed his brow slightly. “It's your birthday and I wanted everything to be perfect and John B kinda threw me off with the stupid grilled cheese but it isn't his fault. It’s my fault for being so tense and I worked my ass off to get you something I don't think even lives up to what you deserve.”

JJ looked down at you, still in silence. “God, this is so stupid.” 

You pouted and sniffled as you finished your rant. 

“Are you done?” JJ asked, looking into your eyes. You looked back at him and sighed, nodding. 

“First of all, you are not stupid,” He rubbed the back of your palm with his thumb. “Second of all, why didn't you tell me you were so overworked and exhausted?”

You shrugged and looked away. “I didn't want you guys to have to worry.”

“I'm your boyfriend,” He said firmly. “I want to be able to carry these things with you and for you,”

You gave him a lopsided smile. “Who knew you could be so sappy?”

“I’m totally sappy,” He scoffed, not being able to contain his smile. “I just have to have the will to bring it out.”

You smiled down at your lap. But it soon fell into a frown. “I feel like I ruined your birthday.”

“Are you kidding me?” He said, hooking his finger beneath your chin in order to pull your gaze towards his. You stared at him with a pout. “Seeing you again today was the highlight of my week- being with you, is the highlight of my week.”

“I don't need fancy gestures or big huge presents, that's like, the kookiest thing ever,” You scanned the blue in his eyes carefully as a smile appeared on your face. “Being with you is enough.”

“Even if you're offered the world's best blunt to forget about me?” 

“Even if I was offered the world's best blunt to forget about you.” He leaned down and kissed you gently. JJ was willing to do anything for you, and so were you. The love you felt for this man was more than words could explain. You pulled away. 

“Here,” You pulled out a small little box from the back of your pocket and handed it to him with embarrassment. “It's stupid but, you know,”

JJ gave you one last look before he pulled out a small chain that had a surfboard pendant hanging on it. He carefully analyzed the surfboard and noticed that in the smallest size were both of your initials carved on the side of the miniature board. His mouth fell open before he closed it and smiled. He squeezed the pendant in his palm and looked up at you. 

You gave him a shy smile before he took your face into both his palms, gently squeezing your cheeks and grunting in frustration. “I love you woman.” 

“Ew, don’t call me woman.” You smiled widely and giggled as he peppered your face in soft kisses. He made sure to wipe away the last of your tears and suddenly, the only thing that hurt were your cheeks from smiling too much. And your ankles, maybe just a bit.

JJ cleared his throat. “Does this mean, you weren't planning on giving me any birthday sex..?”

“Perv,” You said, sticking your tongue out. You then however looked over at the closed door and gave the blonde a look. “How long until Pope and Kiara get back from the store?”

JJ smirked at you before pushing you back onto the bed and hovering over you as you erupted in laughter as he began placing kisses down your neck. “Who gives a shit.”

#fanfic #fic rec #jj maybank #jj x oc #jj x reader #obx jj #obx season 2 #obx series #obx2 #obx1 #otp prompts #fiction #imagine your otp #aesthetic

[queenmiarys]

A/N: hello everyone, this wasn't my intention to start writing then put things off , plus with this I tried to do my research and I asked a few of the ladies here some advice, a few weeks ago I called my uncle who's a doctor and asked him, so if any advice please just inbox me, I know no one who's even been shot before so here's what I came up with.

A/N please excuse any errors or misspellings, I did very little editing, this has been sitting in Google docs a while waiting on an end to be added. I want to thank anyone who reads and like my story. Any feedback is welcomed trust me I would not be offended, this is a learning experience to me, I wrote somewhat in middle school, I read others work and be like some of you could be professional writers.

------------

ENVY

Book: The Royal Romance

Paring: Liam x Mia

Summary: Summary: This takes place 2 years after meeting Riley, Liam meets 24 year old Amelia Ramos and starts a new relationship.

Rated R

Most characters belong to pixelberry

Warning: Gun violence, some profanity, 18+

Chapter 3 Disaster strikes

New York 

"Liam needs me, it's a big night, so Maxwell told me Liam has met someone he spent a lot of time with  while he was here."

"Yeah Drake told me about her, but do you think he's over Riley?"

"The way Max tells it he is, he said has the same look for Mia he used to have for Riley.

"Oh interesting but what about the situation?

"That's not our place, but thank you for being there for her, I love you."

"I love you too Olivia."  He pulled her close and showered her with soft kisses 

"Leo, you'll  make me late." I need to Shower and get dressed."

-------

Cordonia

Liam spent most of his day in meetings. He made it back to his quarters at 3pm, he knew Mia would be up around 7am to get ready for work.

She answered on the second ring. ”Hello beautiful, how is your morning going?"

“It’s okay I just really miss you a lot, "  I was just having coffee and doing a little online grocery shopping before work." Liam hit the FaceTime button

I miss you too, my love. I've closed the deal I was working on, so after this fundraiser, I can come visit for a few days. I know you have work and you planned to come here in 2 weeks." A  knock on his door. "My love someone is at my door, can you hold for a moment."

"Sure."

“My son, we need to talk."

“Okay father give me a minute I was on a call, I’ll be right back."

“My love It’s my father he needs to talk with me, I’ll call you when you get off work.( Kisses)

" Okay lo, I mean kisses talk to you later." Oh boy I almost told him I love him, good save I hope, you know it's too soon for that she said to herself.

"Yes Father?"

"May I come in?"

"Sure father" 

"Son, you know I'm  getting up in age, it's time I stepped down."

"When?"

"At the end of the next social season, William, I need you to find a wife. Madeleine is my first choice,  but I can understand you looking elsewhere, but to reality secure that you choose a good queen,Princess Francine Hassan of Morocco, or Princess  Alana of Norway, either woman would be a wonderful choice for Cordonia for different reasons and I met the princess of Norway she's so beautiful."

 "Father, I will not be in some loveless marriage or marry for Cordonia, I will find my own wife, someone I love and care about."

"All I have ever tried to do is protect you, from getting hurt, from experiencing the pain I was caused when someone took your mother, the only woman I've ever loved away from me, you are all I have left of her. 

He felt bad for his father, but he still wanted love and if he was granted a second chance, he was going to grab it and hold on for life. 

"I understand, but I'm a man you must trust that I'll make the right decisions regarding my love life." He finally said 

"Son, your enemies will  use  the people you love against you and that will hurt you more than anything, remember I love  you son, and only try to protect you." 

" I love you too father, but if you'll excuse me I gotta go, I take it you can  see your way out."

He walked into the hallway,  he took a deep breath to try calm his nerves before he called Drake. 

Hey Li."

"I really need to relax before this Gala, are you guys for a spa day?'

"Sounds good buddy." Max said 

"Yeah count me in." Drake said

They were all relaxing when Max brought up Mia.

Liam smiles at just thinking of her. " I am falling for her, I mean she could be the one, I don't know what about this woman that makes me so happy but I believe that we belong together, I mean she's beautiful, smart, caring and she smells absolutely amazing all the time, guys I so wish she were here tonight."

" Buddy I'm so happy to see you happy again, you deserve it."  Max said 

"And so do you Drake, you'll meet someone, who will make you happy." 

Liam Studied Maxwell for a moment, " My friend, so do you, are you still dating that Mark guy?"

Max,was  looking down avoiding eye contact, Drake turned to look into his eyes  "Okay Beaumont spill it, what are you hiding?" 

"I was on a date with Ava and Mark ruined my date, he caused a scene, both broke up with me.

"Why didn't you talk to us?" Liam asked

"Really, it's no big deal."

"I'm assuming this happened around 2 weeks ago? Drake said" 

"How did you know that?" 

"Well Beaumont you were in an unusually bad mood,"

Drake laughed. "Oh my God Beaumont, I just realized all the women you've dated are red heads."

Maxwell smiled. "So what about it?" 

“So you do have a thing for Liv?"

"I never thought of her that way, sometimes she can be kinda scary and sexy at times." Desire crossed his eyes for a moment 

“I don’t know you all made me think how hot she can be at times, but she probably would never date me

"Never know until you try Max, Liam patted him on the back

“Let face it Max said, she always had a thing for you Rys men.

"What do you mean men? I only knew she was kind of into me."

“Max and Drake laughed, kind of, she's been in love with you forever man."

“ But after she found out your feelings for blossom, I saw her making out with Leo ."

Both Drake and Liam's mouths hang open.

“My brother always gets what he wants but just plays with women's feelings too much, I hope he's not going to hurt my friend."

They all made it back to the  palace and went there separate ways to get ready for the Gala, it was now 7pm, Liam had the chef to prepare him dinner, there would be food but they served dinner really late at this event.

He ate, then showered and got dressed, it was 9pm time for the Gala. Mia was just getting off work, he faced her, she picked up on the first ring, “Hello beautiful how was your day?" 

“It was nice, I just miss you like  crazy, I have been thinking I own my own business and Jennifer is reliable, I want to come to visit you."

 “My love, that sounds wonderful, but I didn’t want to pull you away from anything important, you told me your work was very important."

“It is but in a short time you become important to me too, you told me you had a ball to attend right?".

“Yes a fundraiser to help families living on the streets of Cordonia, we give them a home and see if we can help them get on there feet, we only help them for a year, we support them  either till  they find a job or they opt out of the program, we hate to see that happen, we start this last year we helped 10 families get on their feet, last year we only raised 6 million." 

“I will ask my dad to put in 6 million for me, I’m sure once he sees why I’m asking he’ll have no problem  with it, we've been talking for 30 minutes and you have a ball to attend."

 “I'd rather stay in my suite talking to you all night, a knock on the door, he let out a sigh sorry my love It’s my guard (Kisses) call you once I am done."

————————————————————– 

He mingled  and  worked the room, he knew his smile could get him just about anything he wanted, he had already raised 10 million dollars this year, he thought about Mia 16 if her father gives, an older lady walked up that he had never saw before, she offered 20 million if I spent one night with her, I had to decline, after all she to old and I have a girlfriend.

 I worked the room more, Drake and Maxwell and Rashad, come over laughing, I see you sent Mrs. Ferguson." 

 “Neville actually  slept with her for her 30 mill for his father's charity event." Rashad said laughing.

“So gross I couldn’t imagine being with someone who could be my Nanna, come on I am only 26 and that lady is like 60/70." Liam said as he laughed. 

——————————————————————————-

Mia had hung up and went and showered, she hadn't washed her sheets yet that still smelled of him,  she only slept on his side of the bed, he had left a bottle of his cologne behind and she would spray a little in the air before falling asleep 

 She slept for about an hour before she heard banging on the door, it was almost five, they came in with wine coolers and food, Jen looked around. " Is your man back already?"

“I wish, sit guys I want to talk to you, Jennifer I need you guys help, I want to visit Liam, but I need someone I can trust with my baby, you both know how important my career is, but I got to be honest in a short time I’ve fallen in love with Liam .

“Love is big Mia, you just met him." Jen said.

“I know but  I have never felt this way for anyone before, sure I have loved guys but I was never in love with them." 

Her friend's mouth hung open, the sex must be good if he got you all in love, she didn’t look up at her, so you haven’t had sex?" Oh my God you really are in love."

“ Let's take your mind off this call my brother Amy, let’s play cards, Daniel came over.

 “So Dan, who's your new boy toy this week?

“Are you staying with mom again?" 

"Jen, please I'm fine, and God no I'm not staying with mom."

“I was just checking on you, I wish you would settle down and pick one guy, we all worry about you"

“Jen you start this every time you are drunk stop it, I am fine." 

 She didn’t say anything else, she took her phone out texting her mom.

The announcement caught Mia's attention. "Turn that up.

"This is Craig Shyster reporting from Corodia General hospital, we got a tip that Prince William Rys, was shot in the shoulder doing a Gala fundraiser last night and the person who shot him was shot dead on scene, right now we have no further information about the Prince condition at this time."

It was like someone punched me in the gut , I got dizzy, I was losing my mind, all flights were canceled to or from Cordonia, I got myself together, I called my father.

He could hear my voice trembling, asking what was wrong.

“Father, did you see the news about Prince William Rys?"

“Yes I saw it but what does that have to do with you?

“He’s the guy I was telling you about."

"No flights are going in or out. I need your private jet.

“Mia, that might not be a good idea, the prince just shot you in danger.

“Please father, I don't care, I need to get to the man I love."

“But you haven’t known him long and you believe you love him?"  

“Yes and he may be dying thinking I didn’t care enough to come be at his side, father please I’ll do  you want even let you put me back under your protection, I will follow whatever you want to  get me to Cordonia please."

—-------;--

2 hours earlier

Olivia and Penelope made their way over to Liam smiling, “ we made 4 times the amount as last year,

 Him and Olivia walked across the room. “So I hear you met someone"

“Who told you this? 

“I can’t reveal my secrets, but if this Mia woman is what you want I wish you all the best."

“Can I ask you something  Olivia?

“Sure you can."

 “Why didn’t you tell me about you and Leo?"

“Well we didn’t tell anyone it just happened."

"I assume my father doesn’t know, and how do you feel about Leo?

“I love him, and Con knows they had a big fight about 6 months back, we were at Leo’s in California when your father visited him, but don’t  worry me and Leo will handle it."

A man walked over and handed Liam a note saying his father needs to speak with him, unknown to Liam his father had got a similar note saying Liam needed to speak with him, excuse me lady Olivia

————————————————————–

Drake went along as  security, they entered the room and it was dark, “I guess my father hasn’t arrived yet, they turned on the light and one of the head guards, Damien, had a gun pointed at Constantine's head.

 “Dammit what are you doing Damien?"Drank asked

“ avenging my  parents death, see  along with Olivia parents, my family should be on the throne, my brother may have failed but I won’t."

"Your old man ordered my parents alone with Olivia parents to be assassinated for fighting for what was rightfully theirs, the Rys family should have never been on the throne

"Gentleman let me tell you, your father is not a good man

Drake's eyes went wide,giving an annoyed look. What the hell is he talking about your father.

Damien could see Drake trying to figure out what he was talking about

"Oh my Mr. Walker I assume that King Constantine has never told you he’s your real father?" Am I right?" He laughed."

“What? He’s not my father you fucken psycho and never will be!"

“Drake my boy I have documents that say otherwise,  the birth certificate you have is from America but see you were born here, your father the king arranged it all, for  Jackson to adopt you and legally become your father go on ask him to tell the truth ?'

Tears were running down Drake face, "TELL THIS SONOFABITCH YOU ARE NOT MY FATHER GO ON CON FOR ONCE IN YOUR MISERABLE LIFE TELL HIM HE’S WRONG."

“Son I can’t do that, it’s all true your mother was my mistress and she got pregnant, she didn’t know who your father was me or Jackson, but the test come back 99.9 that I was your father, so I paid off American doctor to say you were born in the US, were only a week old." 

Drake fort Back his emotions, he knew he had to sort out whatever feeling he had later, right now he had to stay in professional mood and dispose of the situation at hand

"Who dies first?" they head Damien ask

"I volunteer, please just let my boys go they haven't done anything but be born into the Rys family but they are innocent."

 " I love both of you and only try to do whatever is best for you." 

"How touching."  He pulled the trigger and Liam leaped in front of his father getting shot In his Left shoulder, both Constantine and Liam hit the ground, at this time Drake has managed to get his spare gun and shooting Damien dead.

Drake took off his dress shirt asking Constantine to apply pressure to the wound, until he can get some help

Once the EMT arrived, they were led in and out through a secret tunnel, they got him to hospital quickly.

#Liam Rys #liam& MC #envy #trr #DrakeWalker #cordonia #NewYorkCity #gun violence

[thenasoneshots]

Sebastian Oneshot - You Are the Reason

Requested?: No, please request, I need ideas…

Prompt: None

Type of oneshot: Fluff? Kinda… I dunno what I’d call this

Reader's Relations: Blaine’s twin sister

Warnings: Mentions of transphobia, mentions of s*lf H*rm.

Other notes: Reader is trans, but it’s like not known information. The reader was born female but has been pretending to be male while at school. The first part is set during the former part of season 3. (M/n) means male name.

-------------------------

I smiled to myself as I walked down the halls of McKinley towards the Choir Room after having been pointed the way by one of the students, my coat wrapped closely around me, covering up my Dalton blazer and tie. I soon came to the room, and knocked on the doorframe, due to the door being wide open, “I am sorry to interrupt but I was wondering if-” Before I could finish my sentence, Blaine had ran up and hugged me, nearly knocking the hat off my head, which would have revealed my longer hair.

“Oh, hello to you too, Little Brother. I missed you.”

“So who is this? Not that I care but just saying.”

Blaine let go of me and turned around to the rest of the group, “This is (Y-” I stepped on his foot giving him a glare, “My name is (M/n), I’m Blaine’s older brother. But that’s all you need to know,” I spoke, before turning to who I guessed was the teacher, “I came because I wanted to ask if I could try out for Glee Club. I recently transferred to McKinley from my old school.”

Before he could reply, Blaine had taken my wrist and pulled me over to the chairs, causing me to let go of my coat, revealing my school uniform underneath, leading to the same girl who’d spoken before to speak out, “Oh great. Mr Scheuster, are you really going to allow this? Some random guy walks in and doesn’t even need to try out? We don’t need two Warblers in our Glee Glub.”

I felt my eye twitching and I stood up turning to her, “Right. I will have you know, Little Miss Cheerleader, that I have no intention of leaking your ‘secrets’ to the Warblers. I left Dalton to come here.”

“Then how come you’re still in your uniform?”

“Because I wanted to have one last day in it before it gets ‘retired’ so to speak. If you want me to sing, I’ll sing,” I replied, taking my coat off completely and standing up. 

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=gxTRx4uurxs&si=DoXoEmsCa-2vyYGv - the song is Dark Horse by Katy Perry

------------------------

“I’ve been thinking. How come you sing like a girl?”

I felt a small pang in my heart and my heart rate started to increase but before I could say anything, Mr Schuester had spoken up, “Santana, that’s enough.”

“No, I want to know. Tell us. Why do you look and dress like a guy, but you sing like a girl?”

Instead of responding, I just stood up and ran out of the Choir Room, ignoring the calls of my name for me to come back. I just ran to the Auditorium and walked onto the stage, thankful no one else was there.

“(M/n)?”

I looked up at the voice and smiled slightly at Blaine, “Hi.”

“You alright?”

I shook my head and soon felt him bring me into a hug, “Just know I’ll never judge you.”

“I know you won’t, but others might... I don’t think people are going to understand. I don’t feel comfortable as a girl.”

----------------------------

“What’s on your mind, (M/n)? You’ve been zoning out the whole time.”

I sighed, swirling the straw of my smoothie around in the drink, “Seb, you know how when we started dating, we agreed we would and could tell each other anything?” He nodded and I took a deep breath, “Well, the thing is, I apologise, but I’ve been lying to you. I was born a girl. I was allowed to go to Dalton cause I cut my hair a bit shorter and wore a binder to cover my chest. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier, but I’ve come to realise that I don’t feel comfortable with being a girl, so I’m going to undergo surgery to change my gender.”

Sebastian looked at me in shock before a smile took over his face, “That’s perfectly alright with me.”

I felt like a weight was lifted from my shoulders when I heard him say that and I returned his smile, hugging him, “This is why I love you, Seb.”

-------------------------

I squeaked as I felt a hand hit my head, causing my hat to fall off, in turn revealing my longer hair. This caused the whole Glee Club, minus Blaine, to gasp and I felt my face turn bright red in both embarrassment and anger.

“I told you there was something off about this one. Why’s your hair so long?” Santana asked, getting closer to me, a smirk on her face, telling me she’d been the one to knock my hat off. I felt my heart rate increase and I sighed, “Fine, I’m a girl, but I don’t feel comfortable as a girl, which is why I never mentioned it to you guys. I wanted you to just see the new me rather than the old me,” I replied, “But, I’d rather that fact stayed in here.”

Over the next few weeks, I started to get pushed against the lockers and had several slushies thrown at me as well as hurtful words said to me. It got to the point where there were times that I was late to Glee Club because I had to wash the slushie out of my eyes and change clothes. Had I told anyone I was now being bullied? No. Was I going to? No. Then one day when I walked into Glee Club after just having finished washing a slushie out of my eyes, something snapped in me, and I completely broke down, sobbing. Immediately, Blaine had rushed over, rubbing my back, not asking why I was crying, even though I could tell he wanted to ask why I was crying, but he knew I’d speak when I was really. Eventually with some time, and help from the other Glee Club members, I’d calmed down enough to speak.

“(M/n)? What happened?”

“Someone leaked it to the rest of the school that I was a girl and since then, not a single day has gone by where I haven’t either been pushed against a locker or had a slushie thrown at me. That’s why I’m always late, I’ve been having to wash it off my face and out of my hair,” I responded before being wrapped in a hug.

------------------------

“Mr Schuester, before we begin, could I make a small announcement?” I asked, raising my hand, feeling butterflies in my stomach.

“Of course, (M/n),” he replied, smiling at me. I stood up nervously, returning the smile and walked to the front, taking a deep breath, “So, over the past few months, I’ve been going through the process of changing my gender and… I had the surgery on Monday, which is why I haven’t been in since last week.”

Everyone’s faces erupted in smiles, and they all ran up giving me a massive group hug, but the moment was interrupted by a familiar voice, “So, does that mean that I’m back to being gay now?”

I immediately turned on my heel to see Sebastian leaning on the door frame, a smile on his face. I felt my heart pumping, knowing from that statement my friends would have worked out that we were dating, but before any of them could say anything, I’d sped over and grabbed his hand, dragging him out into the hallway, “What the Hell are you doing here?! Sebastian, you really shouldn’t be here. I mean, I’m happy to see you, but why?”

“Warblers practice was cancelled due to several of the boys being ill with the flu, the annoying thing about Boarding Schools, illnesses tend to spread more easily. Anyway, I came over 'cause I wanted to see you.”

“What you mean is you want to know what song we’re planning to beat you with at Sectionals, right?” I giggled out in a joking way, but when he stayed silent, I stopped laughing, “You’re not joking with me… That’s why you came?!”

“(M/n), please..”

“Please what? Do you even love me or was this just a cruel game to you?”

“Listen, I.. Fine, I’ll tell you. We need to break up.”

“What…? Why?” I asked, as the tears started to come to my eyes, “You’re joking this time, right?”

“No, I’m not. I’m sorry, (M/n), but it’s for your own happiness. Your friends know we’re dating now, and I know they don’t like me, so I’m saving you the job of breaking up with me when you eventually choose them over me.”

“But… I can explain to them. They’ll understand that there’s more to you than the ‘massive arsehole’ they see you as.”

“Maybe. But the point is, I know they don’t like me. Goodbye, (M/n),” and before I could say anything else, he’d turned around and was walking down the corridor away from me before slipping out of my sight. I wiped my now tear-stained eyes, and took a deep breath, trying to make it look like I hadn’t been crying and walked back into the choir room, walking straight over to my bag. I picked it up, took my headphones out and connected them to my phone, before walking back out, not saying a word to anyone. As I was about halfway down the corridor in the opposite direction to where Sebastian had gone, I felt a hand on my wrist. I sighed and paused my music, turning around to see Blaine there.

“What?”

“Why?” he asked, “Out of all the people you could choose, you pick him. Let’s not forget he threw a rock salt slushie at me, (M/n). Why?!”

“I thought, after I’d got to know him he was rather charming, but I can see you were, no, you all were right about him. He is just a heartless asshole.”

“Wait a minute... This is the same guy who you were singing praises about how nice he was to you all the time, literally yesterday, what changed your mind?”

“He broke up with me! Is that what you wanted to know?!” I all but screamed in Blaine’s face before reaching for my headphones again, “I’ll see you at home. There’s something I want to do.” I walked off, putting my headphones back on.

----------------------

I gave up trying to hold tears in and let them cascade down my face as I went through my locker, taking down all the photos of Sebastian and I. Most of them were him kissing my cheek while I wasn’t looking, or vice versa, all of which had been taken by other Warblers, them knowing of our relationship, and being sworn to secrecy not to tell anyone else, “There goes my heart beating ‘cause you are the reason, I'm losing my sleep. Please come back now and there goes my mind racing and you are the reason that I'm still breathing. I'm hopeless now.” I started singing softly to myself as I either tore up the pictures I didn’t want to keep, threw them in the bin, or, on the rare occasion that there was someone else in the photo, usually one or more of the other Warblers, I just scored out Sebastian’s face and put them in my bag so I wouldn’t have to see them whenever I opened my locker, I'd climb every mountain and swim every ocean just to be with you and fix what you've broken. Oh, 'cause I need you to see that you are the reason.” It was true, apart from Blaine, Sebastian had been the only one, prior to me telling the rest of the New Directions, about my dislike for my gender, and my want to change it, “There goes my hands shaking and you are the reason my heart keeps bleeding. I need you now and if I could turn back the clock, I'd make sure the light defeated the dark. I'd spend every hour, of every day keeping you safe…”

—-----------------------

“And I'd climb every mountain and swim every ocean just to be with you and fix what you've broken,” I sang out standing on the stage in the auditorium, as for some reason we’d had Glee Club in there rather than the choir room, “Oh, 'cause I need you to see that you are the reason…” The assignment for the week had been ‘Heartbreak’ and that song had been the first one that came to me after what had happened two days ago. I quickly took my seat again, not wanting anyone to see that I was about to burst into tears again, and tried to calm myself down.

That was when I heard my phone go off and I quickly took a look at the caller, gasped, and asked to be excused. Mr Schuester nodded, seeing that it was a phone call and I quickly thanked him, standing up and answering, dashing out of the auditorium, “Nick? Why are you calling me? I’m in Glee practice right now!”

“I’m sorry for interrupting your practice, (M/n), but I thought you’d want to know that your boyfriend is in the hospital.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I don’t have a boyfriend.”

“Huh? But aren’t you and Sebastian dating?”

“No, he broke up with me, literally two days ago.”

“Oh..” Nick replied, and even though I couldn’t see him, I could tell he had a surprised and confused look on his face, “Well, he didn’t turn up for Warblers practice yesterday and then Mr (Insert random teacher name) came and let us know this afternoon he’d been in an accident and was in the hospital. When me and Jeff got there, Sebastian’s parents told us he’d been talking about you since he woke up. It was something about ‘Must see (M/n). Need to say something’ or something like that. He needs you, please come…”

“Well, you can tell Sebastian to shove it up his arse. He broke up with me, claiming it ‘for my own happiness’, and said that it was ‘to save me the bother of doing it when I chose the New Directions over him because my friends hate him after he threw that slushie in Blaine’s face. Now is there anything else? Or can I go back to rehearsals?”

I heard Nick sigh on the phone, “It’s up to you, but just to say, I can tell he regrets breaking up with you.”

I just rolled my eyes and hung up, putting my phone away and walking back into the auditorium, sitting down.

“Everything okay?”

I nodded, “Yeah... just a family matter,” I replied, “It can wait until Blaine and I get home, Mr Schuester.”

“If it’s a ‘family matter’ then why wasn’t I told too?”

I rolled my eyes, “For crying out loud, Blaine. How can Mum call two people at once? She called me and asked me to tell you when I could. Which will be after Glee Club is over for the day.”

A few minutes later, we were finished and I saw Blaine take out his phone and message someone. His phone dinged and he turned to me after checking it, “Why did you lie to Mr Schuester about that phone call? Mum said she never called you.”

I bit my lip, “Because no one would actually care about the truth anyway. Plus I’m still trying to decide myself on what to do. Sebastian’s in the hospital. It was Nick who called me earlier to tell me. He said something about an accident and that Sebastian had been wanting to talk to me since he woke up. I’m not going though.”

“(M/n). You should go and see him. If he wants to talk to you, should should at least do that for him.”

“Oh, so you’re on his side now? Blaine ‘He-threw-a-rock-salt-slushie-at-me’ Anderson. Why are you saying I should go and see him in the hospital? I thought you didn’t want me to be with him.”

“While I still don’t like the idea of him dating you. If he wants to talk to you, you should go. Perhaps he wants to apologise.”

“What? Like how he apologised for nearly blinding you?”

-------------------------

However, Blaine managed to get me to go and see Sebastian and I was surprised to see him lying on the bed, a heart rate monitor attached to his arm, and his forearms covered in bandages. Only his forearms… everywhere else was clean, well apart from his hands and face having bloodstains on them… That’s when I worked it out…

“Alright, out with it. Why did you want me to come? And why’d Nick lie to me about you being in an accident? This clearly was not an ‘accident’. You did this to yourself.”

“(M/n)? You came?”

“Obviously… Now answer my questions,” I replied, tapping my finger on my arm, an unimpressed look on my face.

“Mum, please can we be alone?” Sebastian asked, turning to his mother, who had been sitting by the bed, reading a book. She stood up and left, not before giving me a ‘This is all your fault’ glare. I gulped and walked closer, to Sebastian after his mother had left the room, knowing she, for some reason, blamed me for Sebastian trying to kill himself.

“Now, answer my questions. Why did you want me to come?”

“All three are connected. The answers to your questions, I mean. I wanted you to come because I wanted to see you, I did this to myself because of how I hurt you. I still love you and I couldn’t live with myself after seeing your face when I broke up with you. A face like yours should only ever have happy tears streaming down the cheeks. My mother told me to break up with you. I know she doesn’t like you, but I couldn't disappoint her, I regretted breaking up with you after I saw your face. Finally, I asked Nick to tell you I was in the hospital. Honestly, he didn’t know the whole truth either, all he knew was I’d managed to slice both my arms, so he probably just assumed it was some form of accident. Could you ever forgive me?”

I gulped and saw the tears rolling down his cheeks, the beeping of the heart-rate monitor slowing down.

“(M/n). Please. I need to know if you forgive me. The doctors said I still don’t have enough blood in my body to go on for too long, but I want to know if you forgive me before it’s too late.”

“Do you promise you’re telling the truth? You didn’t want to break up with me?”

“Yes, I’m telling the truth. I didn’t want to break up with you, my mother forced me to.”

“Sebastian, what’s your blood type?”

“Why… Wait… Really?”

“Just tell me your blood type, Smythe,” I replied leaning down and gently hugging him.

“A-, does that-” Before Sebastian could finish his sentence, a nurse had walked through the door, “Oh hello, are you-”

“Let me donate blood. Please. I’ve got the same blood type. I’m begging you.”

“(M/n), you don’t have to.”

“Yes. I do, Seb. Please, Miss Nurse. I know I’ve got the same blood type as him. I can give him blood, just let me.”

“Are you sure? If so I’ll go and get a doctor.”

I nodded eagerly, “Yes. I can tell Sebastian doesn’t have enough blood in his body due to all he lost and I know it’s at a point where he could die due to the blood loss. Please.”

The nurse smiled at me and nodded, “Okay. I’ll need your name so we can double-check you have the same blood type. Then a doctor should be in.”

“Of course. (M/n) Anderson, although it might still be written as (Y/n).”

“Thank you. A doctor should be in in a few minutes.”

-----------------------

About 15 minutes later, Sebastian’s heart rate was back up to what it should be and his mother came back in. I stood up from the chair I’d been in and let go of Sebastian’s hand, my heart racing as I knew she was going to do something to me, probably saying I’d overstayed my welcome and shouldn’t be there so I closed my eyes, bracing myself for impact, but was surprised when I was wrapped in a hug. My eyes shot open and I blinked at her words, “Thank you. You saved my  son’s life!”

“Y-you’re welcome Mrs Smythe. I was just doing what anyone would do seeing a person in ne-Wait a minute, don’t you hate me? Why are you hugging me?”

“You saved my son’s life, and I can see that you make him happy. I apologise for forcing him to break up with you.”

--------------------------

“A-are you sure you okay with having Sebastian as a brother-in-law, Blaine?” I asked as he helped me tie the bow tie on my tux, as I’d never been good at it and he was an expert.

“If you’re happy, (M/n). I am. I know he was not very nice and did some bad things, but I know you love him and I am willing to put my dislike for him aside for your happiness, as you are my brother.”

I smiled and hugged him as he finished tying the bow tie, “Thanks, Blaine. You are the best brother ever.”

------------------------END OF ONESHOT

So this is over 3500 words… It’s been in my drafts half-written for ages, and only recently did I get an idea to finish it. It morphed into this and is now very long… Oh well… Curse the over-creative brain, and I have another Glee oneshot idea which will be the next one to be written.

#glee #glee x reader #sebastian smythe #xreader #trans ftm #ftm reader

[ijustwant2write]

A Secret Romantic-Benedict Bridgerton x Reader x Eloise Bridgerton (Platonic)-(Part 4/?)

(I DO NOT OWN THIS GIF, I GOT IT FROM GOOGLE AND DO NOT KNOW THE ORIGINAL CREATOR)

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3

MASTERLIST

Tags: @marvel-ousnesss @myficplace-blog @yelenas-lova @rockbumlowlavxnder @s-unflowxr @appledressing @xceafh @seppys-return-to-madness @ellesmythe @too-many-fandoms-and-what-abt-it @nycbaby21 @teenagedirtbag087

Summary: Benedict and (Y/N) are the talk of the Ton, and Lord Belby doesn't like it one bit. His plans seem to fall apart, but he is soon plotting something else.

Characters: Benedict Bridgerton x Reader, Violet Bridgerton x Reader (platonic), Eloise Bridgerton x Reader (platonic), Daphne Bridgerton x Reader (platonic), Anthony Bridgerton x Reader (platonic)

Meanings: (Y/N)=Your name

(Y/L/N)=Your last name

Warnings: Some arguing, but mostly fluff

                                         *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

(A/N: I finished Season 2 of Bridgerton a while back, but what did everyone think? It didn’t have me as gripped as the first season but I still really enjoyed it, my obsession for Benedict has come racing back! I’m also so sorry for the wait, I actually didn’t realise how long it had been since the last part!)

                                          *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“An invitation has arrived for you ma’am.” a maid announced to Violet as she entered the drawing room.

Violet thanked her as she opened the delicate paper, a smile appearing when she read it.“Lady Danbury is throwing a Summer Day at her estate!”

Eloise, who was in her usual spot with a book, rolled he eyes, knowing she would be up for another night of looking for suitors. Benedict’s attention was caught now, wondering if (Y/N) would also be there. The other Bridgerton’s were not as fussed about the event, at least there would be games to pass the time. 

“Oh how lovely. Oh, Eloise, that new dress of yours would do very well for this event, the new one Madame Delacroix made-”

“Yes.” Eloise snapped, a sarcastic smile on her face.“Thank you for still dressing me mama, even at this age.”

Violet huffed.“You seemed so vibrant at the (Y/L/N)’s art event last week, I would like to see it again.”

“We will all attend mother. It will be another chance for Benedict to meet with Lady (Y/N).” Anthony smirked.

Benedict hoped he wasn’t blushing as much as he thought he was.

“Of course dear, I didn’t forget about her.”

“You two seemed to be getting along quite well.” Collin pointed out.

“Yes, I suppose we did.” Benedict replied, finding himself getting embarrassed.

“She truly is a beautiful woman, smart and kind too.” Violet beamed.

“I was surprised she wasn’t deemed the diamond of the season.” Hyacinth said.

Benedict smiled at his sister’s words. How right she was. But it also made him glad, because it meant that not all men were flocking to her, well, not as quickly anyway. He had never been interested in a woman like this before. He always brushed off the idea of marriage until Anthony was wed, but it seemed he was going to be the first brother to marry. Benedict wanted to speak to her all the time, hold her, paint her, write poetry about her; and he had been so close to kissing her.

“How sweet of you to say.” Violet smiled at her youngest.“Now, Benedict dear,” she sat beside him,“we need to make a plan-”

“Oh mother, I do not need to plan how I will speak with Lady (Y/N).” Benedict sighed.

“I have no doubt that your conversation flows freely, it is the other suitors you need to be wary of. You said yourself how many there were when she was called upon.”

“I don’t think he needs to worry about that.” Eloise spoke up.“Lady (Y/N) has a mind of her own, she will be having this same conversation with her parents.”

“Well, let us hope you are right, Eloise. I personally would not let this woman get away if I were you Benedict.”

(Y/N) felt tense at her family breakfast, hating how the seating arrangement had been made. She had not realised that Lord Belby would be staying with them for the week, his excuse was that it was in the final stages of being refurbished, and he wanted to see his home for the first time in all its glory. So when (Y/N) saw Lord Belby seated across from her at breakfast, she found it hard to keep herself composed.

She tried to hide behind the latest issue of Lady Whistledown, only to be more disappointed when she saw she had wasted her ink on Lord Belby.

'And dear reader, we have a new face amongst us in the Ton. The creative Lord Belby introduced himself at the (Y/L/N)'s Art Exhibition, and it seemed he has caught the attention of many young ladies already. He has already achieved what many gentlemen this season have failed to do; gain a woman's undivided attention.'

(Y/N) slipped the paper under herself on the chair, she didn't want to give Belby a chance to read it, it would only boost his already enormous ego.

Her parents did not know of his rudeness at their event, she thought it would disappoint them to see her disrespecting their guest. And Benedict was not here to save her today, she hadn’t stopped thinking about him since.

“Lady Danbury has issued out invitations, she is holding a Summer Day.” Lady (Y/L/N) told the table.

“What a marvelous way to head into the summer season.” Lord Belby said, and (Y/N) wanted to roll her eyes.

“Well, I should hope a certain Lord Bridgerton will be in attendance.”

(Y/N) couldn’t help but smile widely at her mother who was also excited. 

“Now darling, we mustn’t get too ahead of ourselves.” Lord (Y/L/N) said.“He is only one of the many possibilities on the table.”

“I don’t see this as a bad thing. They get along very well.”

“They have met twice.”

“And they will meet many more times this season. (Y/N), we shall head to the modiste this afternoon.”

“You don’t have a dress already?”

“Not for this occasion, especially when (Y/N) could be speaking with her future husband.”

Belby quietly chuckled.“Not Lord Bridgerton I hope.”

“And why not, Lord Belby?” (Y/N) finally spoke.

“Well, after that scandal with his younger sister and the Duke last season-”

“Oh, forgive me for speaking out, Lord Belby,” (Y/N)’s mother giggled,“but no one cares about that anymore. And they are a very happy family. Besides, that will all be forgotten about once (Y/N) and Lord Benedict Bridgerton are the newest couple.”

Lord Belby only humoured his hosts, not wanting to be rude. He thought it would be easy to persuade the mother that he was a perfect match for their daughter, the father took no convincing (not when Belby flaunted his wealth), though know he had a challenge on his hands. Maybe if he had gone to the ball prior to his art exhibition, he might have nabbed one of the prettiest girls in the Ton before this Brigderton boy. There was still time.

Madame Delacroix had a satisfied smile on her face as the (Y/L/N)'s walked in. The mother was obsessed with dressing her daughter in the finest and most up to date dresses, meaning more money for the seamstress. (Y/N) did love looking elegant too, and seeing as she had Benedict to impress, she was more invested in the fabrics than usual. Just as Madame Delacroix started sizing up the young woman for another dress, the bell above the door rang again, turning the ladies' heads.

"Ah, Lady Bridgerton, I shall be just a moment." Delacroix smiled.

"Thank you." Violet replied as she approached."Lady (Y/L/N), Lady (Y/N), this is a lovely surprise."

Eloise could have rolled her eyes. Violet had forced Eloise to go shopping with her, before she and the couch became fused, she was always sat there with a book. They had no reason to come into the modiste, but Violet saw an opportunity to know her potential in-laws better.

"My, (Y/N), that colour looks radiant on you." Violet complimented.

(Y/N) grinned, hiding her slight nerves."Thank you. Eloise, are you here for a new dress?"

"No, I have far too many at home as it is." she said without thinking, knowing her mother had just sent her a look.

(Y/N) hid her laughter, but smiled knowingly at Eloise

"No we are just here for some accessories, aren't we?" Violet said.

"Well, seeing as Lady Danbury is having a lovely Summer Day, we thought it was a good excuse to buy another dress." (Y/N)'a mother joked.

"Yes, we are also in attendance. I do hope we run into each other again."

"I have no doubt we will all be spending time with a Bridgertin or two."

The mothers may as well have winked at each other, giddy at the thought of their children seeing one another again. Eloise just smiled at (Y/N) before she was dragged away, everyone knew her and Benedict liked each other, why were they being so secretive?

The three eldest Bridgerton boys used the sunny weather to their advantage, brushing up on their fencing skills. Benedict was supposed to be the umpire on the sides as Colin and Anthony sparred, but he couldn't concentrate.

"That was clearly a foul!" Anthony huffed."Benedict, are you not paying attention?"

Benedict shook his head, as if he were shaking off something."Sorry, I was simply daydreaming."

"Probably about the Lady (Y/N)." Colin teased.

"I know you like her brother but could you please give us your time just for fencing?"

"I actually wasn't thinking about her." Benedict slightly lied."I was wondering about Lord Belby."

Colin relaxed onto the nearby bench, much to Anthony's annoyance."Oh, I didn't know you had called on him as well."

"Very funny. What do you two know about him?"

"Well," Anthony knew that the activity had stopped now,"he's not a very good gentleman, and that's putting it lightly."

"How do you mean?"

"He is good with the ladies, but that only means he talks to and uses a lot of them. And I mean proper ladies, not ladies of the night."

"A dishonourable man living in the (Y/L/N)'s home, and they don't even know it."

"No, I'm sure Lord (Y/L/N) knows nothing about that side of him. His daughter certainly wouldn't be around Belby, that's for sure."

"You are worried he will try to woo her, aren't you?" Colin asked.

"I mean, yes, a little, but I know she doesn't like him."

"Then you have nothing to be worried about."

"It just doesn't seem right."

"Well, lucky for you, she seems to dote on you for some reason. We all know you two will be attached by the arm at Lady Danbury's next event."

The Ton was buzzing as everyone invited to the Summer Day made their way to Lady Danbury's estate. Would Lady Whistledown write about today? Or more specifically, would she write more about the new Lord Belby or the next potential engagement?

(Y/N) found it hard to keep her breathing steady as they walked out to the garden. Thee were lots of people looking at her, strangers who she had never spoken to were suddenly making small talk. Her parents were taking it all in, enjoying the attention, their daughter was the talk of the ton. Belby had also tagged along (well, technically he was invited), meaning (Y/N) clung to her mother's arm. She didn't want to give Belby a chance to grab her. It seemed her mother didn't mind either, she actually didn't want Belby near her daughter, she didn't want people getting the wrong impression that Belby now had her.

"Lady Danbury," Lady (Y/L/N) greeted as the family saw their hostess,"an exquisite day by your hand as usual."

"I appreciate the high praises from you just arriving. But I must say, I was happy with the quick response from my invitation."

"Of course, we love any event you host."

(Y/N) wished her mother wasn't so pleasing. She sounded desperate for validation.

"You are always welcome in my home. And how could I miss seeing the most talked about suitors of the ton? Imagine, my event was the day you two finally announced something special."

(Y/N)'s father nervously chuckled, ending up spluttering everywhere. The group watched him as he recovered himself.

"Lady Danbury, you are bold with your words."

She had a smirk on her face."I am excited is all."

"The pair have only spoken a couple of times-"

"If I recall correctly, wasn't there a similar couple in our midst, professing their love for each other and marrying quite swiftly? And everyone thought them to be the sweetest pairing of the year."

(Y/N) smiled at Lady Danbury, who winked back. (Y/N)'s parents had fallen in love quickly, as Lady Danbury said, everyone knew it was a solid and secure marriage that would be filled with happiness. However, the word' love' threw her for a second. She no doubt had feelings for Benedict, and she knew he felt the same, but that word had very strong meanings behind it; it wasn't a word you tossed around lightly.

"I do think Miss (Y/L/N) should like to take a walk with me. Shall we dear?" Lady Danbury was already turning away.

Before her parents (or Belby) could protest, (Y/N) scurried to the woman's side, a giddy feeling in her stomach. This woman was her saving grace.

"I felt suffocated under all that pressure, did you?" she started.

"My parents just want to make sure that they are doing their best for me."

"You are safe with me girl, you can speak your mind with no consequence."

(Y/N) was hesitant. Was this a trick? Did her parents put Lady Danbury up to this? But she so wanted to express her true feelings.

"I love my parents dearly, with all my heart, but they seem conflicted with each other on the matter of my courting."

"They are arguing?"

"No, not arguing. My father seems more hesitant than mother."

"Men always are. And your father's job is to protect you. I would not fret. You have found a good man and a doting family to marry into."

There was another big word-marriage.

"I know the Bridgerton's well. You could not have chosen better."

"That is reasurring to hear."

"When you're young, you think your parents know everything, that they are avke to make all your decisions for you. But that's not the case when it comes to love. You have to be sure that you want to be with this person for the rest of your life. And that can only be decided by you. Do not let others influence you."

(Y/N) sighed."It's a big decision."

"You are having second thoughts about your suitor?"

"No!" she had exclaimed all too quickly."No, I don't. Which I why I'm confused. I don't know why I am so nervous if I'm sure that I like him and that he feels the same about me. Surely I should be calm and collected, I have nothing to worry about."

"You don't. But unlike a lot of people here, you are not just marrying for money. You are lucky that your parents wanted you to be happy. You're nervous because you have taken a liking to the Bridgerton boy, you don't want anything to ruin what you have. There's a lot to think about, and it doesn't help that you have all eyes on you. Especially Lady Whistledown."

"No, it hasn't. That's the only thing I wish we didn't have, everyone asking us questions about our courtship. Or pretending to he our friends just to get the gossip."

Lady Danbury and (Y/N) had walked to a more secluded area, they were still in sight of everyone, but the guests were situated around the refreshments, cakes, games, music and their own circles of friends.

"You have a good head on your neck girl, you are not blind to the way our society works. Do not doubt yourself or what you want. Don't let other influence your decisions when it comes to love."

(Y/N) nodded.

"By any chance, do you know much your guest, Lord Belby?"

"Besides the fact that he is egotistical and thinks himself better than others?" She gasped, realising how rude she sounded."I have spoken out of line, I apologise Lady Danbury-"

"Just as I suspected. And I am glad you voiced your opinion truthfully. I don't trust him. But it seems your father does."

Lady Danbury looked back to the Lord in question, seeing that he was already watching. It clicked for her that Belby was here for more than a bit of representation. Another figure caught her eye in the distance, a familiar family entering her garden.

"Well, it seems we must end our talk, Miss (Y/L/N)."

The young girl followed her gaze. Oh goodness, would her heart ever steady?

"Come, let me escort you to him."

(Y/N) was glad she hadn't sipped on any lemonade yet, she would have hiccups from the nerves. Lady Danbury seemed to be making haste, walking far too fast for (Y/N)'s liking.

Violet spotted her friend and future daughter-in-law straight away. Dragging Benedict forward, they met the pair, the rest of the Bridgertons catching up to their mother.

"Lady Danbury." Violet grinned.

"Ah, the Bridgertons are here, the party can really start now."

"(Y/N), don't you look beautiful. Benedict, doesn't she look lovely?"

All eyes darted to him. He was stuttering over his words, flustered that everyone was being so awkward about this."Yes, yes she does."

(Y/N) kept her smile, hiding her disappointnent in his words.

"I believe Lord and Lady (Y/L/N) want to speak with you. Shall I take you to them?"

"Why yes, of course."

The two ladies were laughing as they walked away, no doubt diving into a thorough conversation about the match. (Y/N) was nervous with the rest of the Bridgertons family standing before her, including some she had not yet met.

"Oh, (Y/N), you have yet to meet the rest of my family. This is Daphne, the eldest of my sisters, and the two youngest, Gregory and Hyacinth."

"Lovely to meet you all."

(Y/N) hadn't met the youngest before but she had spoken to Daphne briefly in her season. It was silly, but at a cafe, (Y/N) had ordered a cake as she usually did (she had an undeniable sweet tooth), only to offer it to Daphne when she saw how upset she was at the other table.

"Have we met before?" Daphne asked, trying to place (Y/N)'s face.

"Oh, yes, we have actually." (Y/N) was glad she was the one to bring it up."I gave you the last chocolate cake at that cafe, you looked like you were having a bad day, and after the waitress told you that there was no more cake left, I had to give it to you."

How could Benedict not melt at that? She truly had a heart of gold.

"Yes of course! You didn't look like you wanted to give it away."

"No, I must say, when it comes to sweet things, I am not one to share."

"Oh how peculiar that we meet again in these circumstances."

"We are going to play bowling brother." Hyacnith announced to Anthony before her and Gregory ran off.

"Shall we take a walk?" Benedict held his arm out to (Y/N).

"Why don't we all join you?" Anthony suggested.

"Brother-"

"It is a lovely garden to walk around, is it not sisters? Daphne could help me look for Eloise's potential suitors. "

Eloise's eyes shot wide open, suddenly looking for an escape. Daphne knew Anthony was only doing this because he wanted to know more about (Y/N), though she also knew that the couple wanted more time together. When Daphne tried to deter her brother's plan, he just linked his arm with hers and Eloise's, before walking away. Benedict sighed as they followed, their arms linked too.

"I am sorry about him. My brother doesn't understand how rude he can be sometimes."

"I understand. He just wants to know who I am. If I had any brothers I'm sure they would be the same."

Benedict looked down at her, and she met his eyes, blushing under his stare."You look exquisite today. I am sorry I did not tell you earlier, I was-"

"Bashful?"

"Yes, I guess I was. You are glowing."

Lady Danbury didn't hide her feelings as Lord Belby voice his opinions on (Y/N)'s courtship.

"Even Lord (Y/L/N) has said that it is far too soon to be making any decisions."

Lord (Y/L/N) found himself stuck for words once again."I-I didn't quite say it like that."

"I can count on one hand how many times they have met."

"Lord Belby, you seem to be very involved with Miss (Y/N)'s love life. I did not realise you were family." Lady Danbury said.

"I am not."

Violet did not like how forward he was."I think (Y/N) and my son are quite well matched."

"So do I." Lady (Y/L/N) added, giving Violet a small nod. They were definitely on the same page.

"I didn't say that. But (Y/N) should keep her options open whilst deciding."

"For who? For you?" Lady Danbury could play this game.

"Why not? I am an eligible gentleman aren't I?"

"A gentleman indeed."

"I think the ladies are in need of some refreshments, shall we Belby?" Lord (Y/L/N) ushered him away."You're going to mess this up if you keep speaking out of term."

"I'm messing this up? You're the one who promised me your daughter's hand!"

"Well, that was before she fell for this Bridgerton."

"So stop it. You're her father."

"I don't want to!"

"What about our deal? The entrepreneurs I was going to bring to you?"

"I don't need your help Lord Belby. I just thought I could kill two birds with one stone; marry my daughter and get some money. But after seeing her with the Bridgerton boy, I can't break her heart like that. And I have enough money, I don't need yours or anyone else's. Our deal is over."

Lord (Y/L/N) swiftly left, hoping Belby wouldn't come after him. He didn't, but he was angry. Why weren't things going his way like they usually did? What happened to his charm? Why did (Y/N) want Benedict when Belby could be so much more interesting for her? It was nonsense.

However, Belby didn't like losing. He refused to lose. So as he tried to call himself down, a devious plan formed in his head once he spotted Eloise Bridgerton, all alone, seeming to be sneaking away from the party. A wicked smirk twisted onto his face as he went after her. A young woman like that shouldn't be alone, anyone could come along and do something to her.

#benedict bridgerton #benedict bridgerton imagine #benedict bridgerton imagines #benedict bridgerton x reader #benedict bridgerton one shot #benedict bridgerton fanfic #benedict bridgerton fan fic #benedict bridgerton fanfiction #benedict bridgerton fan fiction #bridgerton #bridgerton imagine #bridgerton imagines #bridgerton one shot #bridgerton x reader #bridgerton fanfic #bridgerton fan fic #bridgerton fanfiction #bridgerton fan fiction

[jewwyfeesh]

To The Gentle You 1

Writer: Mitsuki

Character(s): Kagehira Mika, Narukami Arashi

Translated by: stcrfeesh

CN Proof by: jewwyfeesh

Mika: Thank ya kindly, Naru-chan～ it’s supposed’ta be your day off today, but yer out here, accompanyin’ me instead.

Please read the translator notes at the end!

Season: Summer

Location: Time Street

Mika: Thank ya kindly, Naru-chan～ it’s supposed’ta be your day off today, but yer out here, accompanyin’ me instead.

Cause Oshii-san’s a real sickler when it comes to detail in our performances, hafta visit a whole buncha different stores to buy all the needed materials to make our outfits.

But I’m with ya today y’know? Things seem to be goin’ pretty well, we’re gettin’ everythin’ done in a jiffy ♪

Arashi: Ufufu, being able to help you is already a treat ♪ Now that we’re all done here, the remaining time on your hands is all mine!

Let’s set these things you’ve bought aside first, then we can go on our date [1] ♪

Arashi: ♪～♪～♪

Mika: (Ehehe～ Naru-chan seems to be having a whale of a time, too. Being able to spend my day off with a good friend, I couldn’t help but want to hum a li’l tune ♪)

Arashi: Shopping is a good way to relieve stress. After all, I do work hard most of the time, so I suppose rewarding myself a little isn't pushing it.

Thinking about it, we’ve been shopping for quite a while now. Are you tired? Would you like to look for a place to rest for a bit?

Mika: Nnah～ I ain't tired at all. Naru-chan, why don’tcha let me help you carry some of that stuff in yer hand?

After all, according to yer itinerary, we still have a buncha places to visit ♪

Arashi: Oh～ Mika-chan is so considerate. I really might just fall in love with you ♪ [2]

You and I have been so busy recently. Our day-offs don't even align, and because of that, we haven’t been able to hang out together.

It's a good thing you moved to Seisou Hall, otherwise, I would only ever be able to see you at school and at ES.

If the latter really did happen, I'd certainly drift from you.

Mika: Nnah～ But ya'd still send me pictures of things around ya. So even when ye’r swamped with work, it's still as if yer just right by my side ♪

Arashi: Now that you mention it, do you still remember the photo of the jewellery store I sent you before? It's the one here in Time Street～  Won't you look at that, it seems like we've unconsciously made our way here.

Mika: … Ah, I see it too! It's that store up ahead, right? The décor looks kinda familiar.

Arashi: Well, that's because this store and the boutique in the shopping district are under the same brands. Though, their products are different from one another.

I always thought that I would go shopping with you if I had the time. I didn't think it would actually happen so soon ♪

Mika: Ehehe～ as long as it's you, then, whatever it may be, I'd be more than willing to tag along～♪

— Inside the jewelry store

Arashi: Look, look! I feel like this earring right over here would look good on you!

Mika: Hm～ I feel like this type would look good on ya too, would you like to try it on?

Arashi: Oh, how wonderful! We could have matching earrings! At a glance, it would be immediately obvious that we’re besties ♪

This ring over here too! Regardless if it's worn as a pendant or as is, it would still look so pretty～

Mika: ……

Arashi: Hm? You look so mesmerised, what are you looking at?

Wow, what a pretty brooch! Though it's made of metal, the details of its fretwork [3] perfectly embodies the lightness of a butterfly's wings.

Mika: That's what I think so too～ there seems 'ta be somethin' written beside the display, lemme see—

Arashi: So it's not for sale… It seems like the owner bought it when they happened to come across it overseas, and couldn't even find the maker.

Mika: Nnah～... I still think this brooch would suit ya so perfectly. I had really wanted ta buy this as a gift for you…

Arashi: Mika-chan, don't be so dejected. The fact that you thought of it at all is already enough to make me happy ♪

Also, look. It says you can still take pictures! Although you wouldn't be able to buy the brooch, as long as you get to take a picture, you can always look back on it and appreciate its beauty at any time.

After all, it is impossible to own all the pretty things in the world～ I think that as long as it can lift your spirits and you can enjoy it as it is, then that's enough for me.

Mika: Would it really be enough to just take a photo…?

Arashi: Alright, alright. It's not every day I get to go shopping with you, so if we drag on and stay at one store for too long, then it’ll really be such a waste of time. Let's go visit a different store～♪

— Sometime later, as the sun sets

Arashi: Shopping with you makes all the places I've already been accustomed to feel so new and even more interesting ♪

Mika: Me too, every time I'm with ya, it makes me feel real' happy～ ♪

Also, it's nice how ya remembered the thin' I told ya about my candy stash runnin' low and brought me to the candy store.

Yer so kind, ya always remember these little things about me… ♪

Arashi: Ufufu, well that's because you are my best friend. Caring for you this much is natural.

Oh! I just remembered something!

Mika: ……?

Arashi: It is such a rare opportunity to go out on a date with you, how could I not take a picture for remembrance? I’m also going to post it on social media to show it off～ ♪

… Oh? How is my phone already dead? I couldn’t have forgotten to charge before I left, did I?

Mika: Is that so… then, why don’t ya just use my phone to take pictures first, and I can send them to ya on Hold-Hands when we get home?

Arashi: Oooh, that’s a wonderful idea ♪ Then I’ll strike a perfect pose, one that I had practised during a photoshoot… ☆

Mika-chan, let’s do it together! Look at the camera! Three, two, one～

Mika: Are ya taking pictures already?! W-Wait up, Naru-chan!

Arashi & Mika: ♪ ～

☆～

— In Mika's Seishou Hall Dorm

Mika: (Ehehe～ I’m really happy today. After moving ta Seisou Hall, I get the opportunity to go out with Naru-chan more ♪)

(Lemme see the pictures we got today… Well, as expected of Naru-chan, every shot looks amazing ♪)

(… Huh? Why is this one blurry? I can hardly see my and Naru-chan’s faces clearly.)

(Maybe when I was trynna pose with Naru-chan earlier, I accidentally put my hand in front of the camera. ‘Cause of that, the shot ain’t focused.)

(Anyway, lemme send the good ones to Naru-chan first—)

(What am I supposed ta do with this one then? I don’t know why, but I kinda don’t wanna delete it～)

(Speaking of, this is probably a bad habit of mine. The same goes with the stuff in my room, I keep unconsciously hoarding stuff more and more.)

(Nnah… A few photos after this one is the one with the brooch No matter how I look at it, it just suits Naru-chan so well that I could imagine her donning it.)

(At that time, Naru-chan looked like she loved the brooch as well… she probably only acted indifferent to it because she thought I would take things to heart.)

(It is because Naru-chan always thinks of me, I want to give her all the things she likes. And she even accompanied me to a buncha different stores to browse one by one to find the best materials ta make clothes…)

(—Oh, right! At one of the stores we went to today, I think they sold raw materials too.)

(Fufufu, I’ll remake that brooch and imitate it perfectly as a surprise for Naru-chan ♪)

Translator's notes:

[1]: Just pointing out the nuance of the word used here, which was 「約會」 (Lit. Date). In English, it does mean "date". However, it is quite similar to how the Japanese word 「デート」 (Lit. Date) is used, where it does not necessarily have to be romantic. The word "date" in both Chinese and Japanese is often used by people—especially young girls—to say they're hanging out with their friends. While this may be so, feel free to interpret this part as you deem most appropriate to you.

[2]: Once again, feel free to interpret this the way you want to, but it is also important to note that Arashi saying she's falling in love with Mika doesn't necessarily lean on the romantic side. In Chinese, saying you're falling in love with them may also mean that you cannot help but love someone more (may be platonic or romantic).

[3]: A fretwork is an interlaced decorative design that is either carved in low relief on a solid background or cut out with a fretsaw, coping saw, jigsaw or scroll saw.

ES x LC Masterlist | Chapter 2 →

#enstars translation #kagehira mika #narukami arashi #fragments of light and shadow #to the gentle you

[bananaraye]

Good Omens Season 2 has been out for a bit, but I am unsure what tagging etiquette is at this point, so possible spoilers ahead if you haven't seen it.

While I was venting to a friend with a lot of patience (and who had watched both seasons as well) she said "You seem really ruffled, it's just a show. Why are you having an existential crisis about this?" Very soon after that, I read a post where Neil said something along the lines of "the ending made people feel something they weren't expecting to feel."

So, I did some chewing on this and realized it doesn't just boil down to my disappointed fangirly heart - in regard to a fandom/ship. I got punched a little lower.

I LOVE a good story. I LOVE A GOOD STORY WITH GOOD CHARACTERS. And if nothing else, I think we can agree that Good Omens is both of those things. So, I get attached. I get invested. The real world is kind of s***** right now. The outlook is gloomy. (I am generalizing here, I realize not everyone, possibly not even the majority of people feel this way.) So, we escape elsewhere - we escape into stories. The ending of season 2 didn't so much devastate me because it made me feel something I wasn't expecting - it turned my stomach over and broke my heart because it made me feel more of the same. That this world is in a crappy state and happy endings are a thing of the past. It warms me to see someone else - fictional as they may be - get one of these elusive happy endings. Yes, it was nice to see Gabriel and Beelzebub go off together AND they are not the characters that I am invested in the most, so it is a bit of a hollow victory. I guess the long and the short of this is, I'm exhausted from all the 'nope/rejection/division/heartbreak' the current real world seems to have and long to see more 'yes/acceptance/togetherness/happiness.' When the season came to a head, it just gave me an 'oh, more of this then.'

AND Neil is also correct. During the wonderful building dance of season 2, I was in no way prepared to be dropped back down into these emotions. I rode that well-crafted rollercoaster from start to finish, and like all good rides, I'm still running back to get in line for another go.

It's looking too hard at something that probably wasn't made to be looked so hard at AND sometimes it helps to work through your own crap by analyzing something else. For anyone who relates, I feel you, you aren't alone in the void.

Also, I still loved every friggin' moment and if the real world comes to an end before a Good Omens season 3, I will... I will be very upset.

#gos2 spoilers #good omens 2 #ineffable husbands #GO s2 gave me an existential crisis #neil gaiman #neil gaiman why #neil gaiman thank you #Can we get GO season 3 before the second coming #Reading too much into everything

[3vocatio]

the thing abt one of the most <3 solomon scenes being copied word for word for diavolo is just so. it's not even insane or unbelievable to me it's just extremely irritating like these are genuinely such wonderful characters in a wonderful setting how are the devs messing up on the writing bit THIS bad.

idm the fan service because like... otome game & all that but also that doesn't mean that they can't have a compelling plot and good writing to go with it????? especially in events like clearly they keep trying to include every single character and it just. doesn't work. and there are just SO MANY events too like if you're playing for non-plot purposes it's still so goddamn annoying because let the players breathe 😭

idk i just wish the writing quality in the game would improve at the very least. like it's fine if it's 'cringe' or wtv at least come up with original and decent plots instead of just repeating the same things over and over again yk?

sorry about the rant i've just been really pissed about this lately in the game 😭

oh my GOSH raaz solomon is the last person the obm devs haven't messed up (+ the new side characters, specifically mephistopheles) and i'm so terrified of the obm devs ruining him like they did everyone else...

in this new steampunk event, the locked route is SPECIFICALLY being catered for whales. unlocking the chapters was easy to build up to, but now you need 15 keys off the bat to continue, and i feel like it's heavily reflective of how indifferent the devs are towards actually doing their own characters justice. everything is meant to serve their whales, bring in more revenue, and sit comfortably even when they know they're angering their own fanbase by rubbing salt in the wound (i.e. making satan self-aware of his cat obsession, solomon outwardly expressing discomfort for the erasure of his humanity from other characters).

the devs are growing to completely disregard their own story, slapping together some fanservice in the main story when most of their fanbase can't even reach that point. why not serve your veterans & those who financially support you with consistent & cathartic story arcs? why not balance everyone, everything?

so i share your frustrations: obey me has been spiraling down in quality for a long time. i think that the last time i've been satisfied with the story was during season 2, when the fandom wasn't as big, and people were invested in figuring out what'll happen next because everything was cleverly panning out to a huge event: the dagger scene with lucifer. people didn't know what to make of simeon's play, and i remember when people theorized that the play would parallel a huge event near the end of the season... and we were right! and so many people were genuinely happy with the story being able to keep their interest and keep them on their toes.

now, there is a severe lack of anything reminiscent of holding anyone's interest, even the veterans, even me. i would woefully log onto tumblr as season 4's lessons rolled around every week, and would share everyone else's disappointment when we gradually accepted the fact that the story was easy to predict given how lazy the devs had become. i want them to take their time so badly, to give us quality over quantity, but with solmare now becoming so big with their new cash cow, obey me, compared to their previous cliche otome games, i think they've allowed the success to get to them.

thoughts of “it's an awful game, i hope no one plays it” and “it's a nice game to play, i can't wait to share my thoughts” are two things that can coexist, albeit shaped into something more along the lines of “it's a horrendous game that i can bond over with friends” once you find yourself being sucked deeper into it.

i don't think i'll stop playing anytime soon, because as i told someone in the past, “[it has] flavor in all of its terrible, atrocious glory”. i'm able to use concepts & ideas that the story gives me and, in my eyes, i get to make it better. i get to share my thoughts with like-minded people like you, and everyone jumps on the inspiration bandwagon. people bond over the same failures that makes us frustrated, and that's one of the few reasons i have any semblance of gratitude for obey me.

#﹒❝ birdsong #raazberry #obey me #omswd #obey me shall we date #obey me spoilers #obey me rant #obey me solomon #obey me diavolo

[soberfructosecornsyrup]

X-Files, Season 3, Episode 5: The List

Honestly, if I had any sort of following, and thought anyone would be interested, I'd do these as audio tracks so people could listen along while watching. It would probably eep me more focused on watching the show too. I think my personality shines more when I'm talking than writing.

Were they still using the electric chair in the 90's?

"Fry 'em" cold indifference towards human life is fucked.

Poor Scully being in jail with a bunch of dudes who probably haven't seen a woman in years. This scene does have Silence of the Lambs vibes.

I wonder if animals believe in reincarnation. Like a possum runs in front of a car because they're tired of their possum life and want to be like an eagle or something.

Kinda fucked up the episode set in a prison has had probably the most black folks in it yet.

Pretty grim episode with the decapitations and corpses being infested with maggots.

Oh shit, it's Bokeem Woodbine! He a All-star.

Honestly, Bokeem Woodbine hasn't aged in 30 years.

Thought this was the Smoking Man come to beat on Bokeem.

Oh shit, reincarnation reincarnate's wife is with a guard. RIP to her and/or him soon.

Maggots make me queasy, like seeing them in the garbage (we keep our outside) and sometimes maggots show up in the garbage and it makes me feel ill.

Called it.

Imagine being a person and being reincarnated into a fly, now you gotta fly around eating shit, and loving it. I'd kill myself again.

Good episode, lot of good creepy imagery with the maggots and corpses.

Rating: 🛸🛸🛸/🛸🛸🛸🛸🛸

#Cliff Does the X-Files 30 Years Later #X-Files