#also it's very expensive and id rather not have to pay for it twice

[thirddeyetarot]

why does uk get less kpop related things? ik we arent as big in music scene but its never been too bad and the only places they ever seem to come to is london or glasgow which is out of the question for me its too far and too much money to invest in.

pop shops are therefore useless bc we cant just all drop everything for one small shop with expensive asf merch or we just hear about them and dont really care to buy merch bc id rather have bought a concert ticket but they always sell out so quickly like with online ticketing makes it twice as hard to get good kpop seats let alone to get a ticket at all either cause theyre all in their hundreds. it just feels like groups leave out the uk and mainly do more america or other european shows or they just dont know about other places in the uk which saddens me a lot. maybe they include manchester but even so ticket prices arent cheap. i could get cheaper PL football tickets for the price of one kpop ticket alone. even their fanmeets are expensive asf or difficult to come across bc theyre mainly in japan or korea or america.

I can feel you, unfortunately Europe somehow and for some reason 😶 it is very neglected when it comes to concerts, I think due to the fact that the various companies think that it would not be worth it to go to smaller countries also go to perform, if it is also about Europe, France is usually preferred. I hope that one day they will come to more places, because it is not worth it for me and many other people to buy the concert ticket separately, pay for flights, hotels, taxis and other expenses. 🙂‍↔️

[saybees]

Going through some more microeconomics stuff talking about advertising and it's just all so off. They're talking about how a company that's willing to spend a lot of money on advertising means that it's a quality product. But my thought is that if the product was actually of very high quality they wouldn't NEED to advertise so much because if it's good and people like it word of mouth would do a lot more than an ad would.

Also it mentions how ads are supposed to convey information to consumers to help them make well informed decisions on what to buy, but almost no ads out there talk about price or things like that. The only time it mentions ingredients is if it's "natural" stuff, but then they leave out all the other ingredients that aren't "natural" (although my view on the whole "natural" thing is that it's just nonsense, I mean cyanide is natural, soooo...). But yeah the whole thing is just ridiculous. This whole course is just a lot of bullshit, which I think is part of why it's been so tough for me to grasp. The economy DOES NOT function the way this university course says it does. It all makes very little sense. I really hope I don't flunk my exams and end up having to take this stupid course over again.

#personal text #also it's very expensive and id rather not have to pay for it twice #i'm very poor #sigh maybe i'll get a job and pay for the courses myself without student aid and just take one or two at a time #just do part time studying #plus that way i get 2 extra months to finish #SO lame that students receiving student aid have less time to finish just because we can't pay for the tuition on our own #it's honestly such a shitty policy #like i'm poor so i have to work even harder than someone that can afford to pay for everything on their own?? #i'm already working harder than them!! #ugh whatever

[actualsunflower]

I have a huge life update to share rn--- My top surgery consultation is scheduled for July 5th!!!! I’M SO EXCITEDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!!!! I’ve also been vaccinated!! :D ANNNDDD MY LEGAL NAME AND SEX HAVE BEEN CHANGEDD!!!!! :DDDD kind of a lot has happened since I’ve been actually active around here But now I guess is the much harder part, my official surgery date will be set at the consultation, but there’s a required $1,000 fee to set the official date for my surgery. The $1,000 covers a portion of the surgery as well, and the base price for the surgery is $8,500. I’ll get the exact price on July 5th, but that’s their base rate. I need to earn or raise at least $1,000 of the total cost before July 5th to secure my surgery date!! I’m going to take commissions when I can, I have 1 almost entirely complete right now and then I can take on more! I’m gonna have a more detailed explanation of everything under the cut so this isnt super super long so pls read under there if you want all the deets Pls consider commissioning me or donating so I can get top surgery!! read more for more info and me being sappy abt my emotions--

I’ve waited so long for this and I’m fricken excited, it’s the last step in transitioning for me! It really means everything for me, I feel like I’ve been waiting forever and I can’t believe it’s finally happening !?!!! I am forever in everyones debt here and everywhere because I never wouldve even been able to start hrt if it wasn’t for the help here. I’m just so. Overwhelmed with emotion and gratitude I cant even tell how many times Ive cried and just felt like... actual gender euphoria since starting t..

So abt the appointment, I’m getting surgery with Dr. Javad Sajan, and I’m getting button hole double incision. Im serious his before and after pictures make me so emotional I am so happy and emotional for those people and I cannot wait to feel that kind of happiness and relief. But a big problem about this for me, is that he is in Seattle, and I live in southern Oregon. I can’t drive, so I have to rely on someone else, or take the train from a nearby city (Eugene). My consultation is over skype (which is amazing and a huge relief), but my pre-op appointment is in person, and of course so is the actual surgery. We’re planning on taking the train from Eugene because it seems to be the most reliable way to get there and back each time. Aside from my surgery, I’ve got to cover the price of the trip there and back (twice, once there and back for pre-op, once there and back post op,) and the price of a place to stay during the pre-op appointment. Right now my goal cost wise, is just the booking and base appointment price ($8,500, that’s including the $1,000 appointment setting deposit, which is just a part of the surgery cost and the base covers everything, surgery, the stay at the hospital, nips, anesthesia, everything). The full price is due at the pre-op appointment, and that’s the final bill. My insurance doesn’t cover anything because it’s out of state and county, and because its informed consent model. (which Im choosing because Id have to battle insurance for 2 years minimum if I was getting the surgery in Oregon, but I am very set on my surgeon after considering everything and calling many offices and looking through many subreddits and talking to ppl who’ve gotten it here and there) A lot of this information is on their site as well. As soon as I have my consultation, I will be right here to update everything and set the exact price, which I’ll also be including the price of transportation and staying there. As for paying, I’ve been applying to so many jobs, and even when I get interviews I never hear back from them. People keep telling me to stop admitting I’m disabled but I just can’t do that. Lying about being disabled doesnt make me abled and they don’t get that. I’m still trying though, and I am not going to stop trying until I get a job. But until then commissions and donations are my only source of income. I’ve been struggling getting help psychologically, because I have schizophrenia, and because I was diagnosed with adhd as a child, but I think I’m actually autistic rather than having adhd, and it’s been really hard trying to get diagnosed because I keep getting pushed off or told I cant have autism because I have paranoid schizophrenia or because its “just adhd”, but the medications are just making everything worse, and Ive tried more than one already. My medications for schizophrenia have started not working right, and when my schizophrenia meds get under control, it makes my adhd (?) significantly worse. Genuinely, I really dont know what’s happening. I really dont know whats going on with me right now and it’s hard and confusing and I keep swinging back and forth and it’s making everything deteriorate so fast I cant keep up with it. It seriously effects my ability to do anything at all, even art, and its been like this for the last 6 months. I am trying though, still trying to work, still trying to get a job, still trying to get a real diagnosis and help and Im not going to stop any of that. But I think getting top surgery as soon as possible is going to help me too, because dysphoria has just gotten so much worse focusing on my chest since t has started helping me pass and look so much more masculine. It’s like all my attention went from everything DIRECTLY to my chest and its almost unbearable. Even now since my sex has been legally changed I keep having the horrible thoughts of ‘why, why I am a man Im not supposed to be this way’ and shit idk. I’m getting too serious right now I have an appointment with the dmv to get a new updated driver’s permit with my name and fixed legal sex, and when I do that I can set up a bank account (I cant yet bcs I dont have a valid id/ id at all because I actually lost the other one and have been carrying around that paper one you’re supposed to destroy that is literally from 2016) and when I do, I’m going to set up a proper gofundme for my surgery and the travel expenses, but for now all I have is my paypal and online banking savings account. I’ll get that up asap once I have my id, though (Ive already been to the bank with my notarized judge passed papers and they wont take those yeah I know it’s stupid its like the same thing) But uhhh yeah! Thank you for reading this far if you did lol and considering helping me bcs my god, it literally means everything to me. pls share hehe

#commission info #donation post #i know it seems like all i do is cry about needing money #but my god. bitches really do be needing money #its me im bitches #top surgery fund #help yer local transmasc flower #pls

[lovelyirony]

fic title: I’m falling and the sun is blinding me to your faults

i wanted to do an au of this one, so presenting: tony and rhodey, but make it villainous. i think it’d be fun! 

James Rhodes is two things, first and foremost being that he is a businessman. 

People call him a villain. He doesn’t really think he’s that villainous. 

After all, he only took over New York. He left all the other states alone, so that has to mean something. He was gracious! 

He also wouldn’t consider himself a villain because everyone who works under him gets health insurance. They don’t complain that much, although he’s gotten some about the quality of the buffet on Fridays. 

Catering companies. Hit-or-miss, you know? 

There have been a couple of companies who try to stop him. Rivals that hate that his products are better and employees are happier, for one. Those are easy to dismiss. 

SHIELD is one company who tries, and fails. Repeatedly. It would be embarrassing, but Rhodes has respect for Agents Romanov and Hill, who have been the closest to breaking into his personal office. 

- 

The player that isn’t registering on the field is Tony Stark. Perhaps because he isn’t so much of a player on the field as an existing person who just happens to be on a field. Or a building. However you would like to imagine it. 

In other universes, he walks like he owns the world because he could buy up everything and still have money left over to get ice cream at the end of the day. 

In this universe, his father kicked him out of his house for various things, the most prominent being that Tony is rather partial to kissing guys and ladies, and that just simply won’t do. 

(Tony also stole enough money out of his bank account to buy a house and also start his own business without his knowledge, but in the grand scheme of things, that’s just a small drop in the ocean.) 

Tony made his own tech start-up business. He’s invented a few new things that hit the market discreetly, and he’s building up more and more clientele. He’s about to open another shop, and in all honesty he’s not worried about getting noticed. 

This is until Rhodes comes across an employee bragging about a new repair guy who makes computers run twice as fast, charges less than most repair shops, and looks mighty fine in a tank top.

The last reason is reason enough to visit. 

But also, to see who’s been fixing up Rhodes tech and can make it faster. He doesn’t know why he wouldn’t have just applied for a job. 

Tony is not expecting Rhodes to enter into his building. He has people who are walk-ins, but usually you would expect a villain to make an appointment. Or not, they are villains. 

“I heard that you’ve been improving my phones,” James says. He leans into Tony’s space. He smells quite nice, has a well-tailored suit, and Tony is trying very hard not to find him attractive. That’s not the sort of thing you could be focusing on. 

“You gonna sue me or something?” 

“No, I want to hire you.” 

Tony blinks. 

“Oh. No thank you.” 

Rhodes pulls back. 

“Why ‘no’?” 

“I like my shop just fine. And you have things well-handled.” 

“Could I consult you?” 

“You can’t afford me.” 

Rhodes grins. 

“Are you sure about that?” 

“Of course I am. Can I get anything for you today, or did you just want to beg me to come work for you?” 

“Most people would never be this bold.” 

"What would they be? Terrified in your presence?” 

“More or less, yes. It’s what I prefer.” 

"I don’t cater to people’s preferences, it’s a character flaw and strength,” Tony quips. 

Rhodes smiles. 

It’s terrifyingly beautiful, really. Tony is at a loss for words. 

“I think I’m liking you, Stark.” 

“Tony. You don’t call me Stark. I don’t do the last name dynamic.” 

“Sweetheart, then. Not your last name.” 

“Pet names, seriously?” 

“Oh you got it, honey.” 

“Then go on, platypus,” Tony throws back. 

“Platypus? Really?” 

"Pet names are on the menu, honey bunch. Just try me.” 

Rhodes smiles, turning to exit. 

“I’ll be in touch, darling.” 

Tony leans against his desk, legs shaking underneath. 

There are two problems that he’s not sure how to solve. Here they are: 

1.) Rhodes now has Tony on his radar, which is probably bad because Tony will absolutely be used for world domination or whatever. 

2.) Tony doesn’t really mind as long as he gets to see Rhodes because goddamn. That man could get so many things, and he probably has. And Tony wouldn’t mind being one of those things if he played his cards right. 

But for now, Tony just wants to fix computers and maybe just buy a new brand of tea, but he’s honestly not sure. 

- 

Rhodes makes an appointment to meet. 

Of Fucking Course. 

Tony is not impressed, and is also not impressed that he comes in with a very expensive custom-made designer suit, whereas Tony is not sure the last time his pair of jeans got washed, and an old t-shirt that’s advertising an ice cream shop that is closed now. 

“You love to make an entrance all the time?” Tony asks. “What can I legally do for you?” 

“You’re assuming I’m making you do illegal things, babe?” 

“Yes, Rhodey.” 

“It’s Rhodes.” 

“Hm, maybe. But not to me. Rhodey. I wanna ruin your business impression.” 

Pepper snorts besides Rhodes, who is suitably impressed that Tony doesn’t give one flying fuck about the fact that he could destroy him at any point. 

“I’m ordering that on your next business card deal.” 

“I’ll fire you.” 

“You can’t find someone as competent as me, don’t even joke.” 

“I came here for an opportunity for you. You’ve managed to get some people’s computers to speed up so much. And I want you to do it with all of my employee’s computers.” 

“What, you couldn’t reverse-engineer it? See what I did for yourself?” 

Rhodey grins. 

“I never question a handsome man’s work, darling.” 

Tony turns red. 

“You’re really bad with professionalism, honeysop.” 

“What the hell is that?” 

“What, never heard about romance in the fifteenth century? Boring.” 

“Will you do the job or not?” 

“What are the terms, the conditions, and how much are you paying?” 

Pepper steps forward, a sizable stack of paperwork in her hands. 

The work would pay off the building. It would pay off his mortgage on his house. Hell, it would help a lot. He’d have extra to mess around and maybe go on a vacation. 

The downside is that he’s helping a villain get faster speed and better battery life with laptops. This could also mean he’d die, but honestly he was kind of expecting an early death. 

Rhodey assures him that he won’t die. 

“If anyone touches you, then they feel my wrath,” he says. His teeth glint underneath the lights. “And honey, no one ever likes feeling that.” 

“What, it isn’t all feather-light tickles?” 

“Touches a bit more than that.” 

There’s an unspoken story there. Rhodey’s grin goes from tight and eyes empty to refocusing on Tony and turning soft, genuine. 

“We can discuss the official plans over dinner.” 

“Dinner won’t work for me, I got plans tonight.” 

“A hot date?” 

"A special movie screening,” Tony says. “Can’t miss it. Maybe next time, or the next three times.” 

Rhodey smiles. 

“Maybe sometime.” 

“Maybe.” 

- 

Holy fuck.

Rhodes International has a local coffee shop on the lobby. A barista is a cheerful girl who has neon yellow hair greets him and asks if he wants a complimentary drink. 

“You...know who I am?” 

“Not in the slightest!” she says cheerily. “I have a memory thing where I remember everyone I ever meet and who I don’t meet. What kind of coffee guy are you?” 

“Um...you guys have mint syrup?” 

“Yup!” 

“Then I guess a peppermint latte?” 

“Coming right up!” 

So here is this girl humming what sounds suspiciously like the Winnie the Pooh song as she makes a drink, and that drink is amazing. 

Also, people are wearing, it seems, whatever outfit they want. There are some people talking, and two look to be dressed in professional business clothing, but the third guy they’re talking to is wearing ripped jeans and a tank top has the phrase of “I’m Just Existing on a Manifestation of Reality” emblazoned. 

It’s odd. 

“So glad you could make it, Tones,” Rhodey says. 

“Tones?” 

“What, too much?” 

“Tones sounds like you know me.” 

“And I don’t?” 

“What’s my favorite jam?” 

“Why jam?” 

“If you know someone well, you know their favorite type of jam.” 

“Orange marmalade?” 

“What the fuck do I look like, Paddington?” 

“You’re right, Paddington’s not near as sexy.” 

“This counts as harassment, right? This counts as harassment.” 

“Don’t have him sue us already, he’ll win,” Pepper says, breezing to their sides. God, she’s gorgeous. Casually dressed in a pencil skirt and a blouse and acting like she doesn’t look like a goddess. Must be exhausting. “Tony, great to have you. Let me show you who you’re working with.” 

He has his own fancy office, a team that knows what they’re doing, and catered lunch. 

Catered lunch. It’s not even a Friday. 

“Friday’s are questionable,” Rhodey says. “Weird selection.” 

“You don’t wanna know,” says Intern Joe. 

That’s literally on his ID card. 

- 

Tony starts work. It’s not bad, not at all. He works in the mornings on the weekends and Mondays as well as Thursdays, and then sometimes does work from his own office. 

Rhodey is...nice. 

This is a bit unsettling, because Rhodey literally just threatened the president over an environmental bill not being accepted and currently all employees are only slightly scared. 

“This is just like three months ago,” says Janice The Badass. (Also on her ID card.) “Don’t worry, the government can’t do anything. They rely on us too heavily.” 

“For what?” 

“For safety.” 

“Not asking.” 

“Good, I’m not going to answer.” 

“Okay?” 

- 

It’s also weird that Rhodey checks in on him. He brings him coffee how he likes it, and he makes him sit down and try new foods with him. 

He’s not bad at conversational topics either. Tony’s used to talking, and he’s used to bad-talking on dates. This doesn’t come close. 

No, they talk about the differences of Star Trek and how much Tony hates specific brands of pens, and how Rhodey is a disaster when it comes to coordination of ties. 

“I don’t like ties,” he scowls. 

“Then why wear one?” 

“Pepper says they look nice.” 

“Why do you need to look nice?” 

“Most things are all about presentation.” 

“Ah, need to be taken seriously.” 

“Only at times when I’m facing government officials or weird corporate bosses.” 

“Aren’t you a corporate boss?” 

“I’m a corporate boss who is also an enemy of fellow corporate bosses. Weird thing.” 

“That’s...intriguing.” 

“How so?” 

“Well, how does that work?” Tony asks, popping a couple blueberries into his mouth. “How are you both the same and an enemy?” 

“Watch and learn, sugar. Watch and learn.” 

Tony is allowed on the next business meeting. Which, coincidentally, his old Uncle Obadiah is part of. 

This leads to rather undesired complications. 

-

“You’re working for a supervillain?” Obie practically yells. 

“Well, it’s a bit more complicated than that,” Tony says. “I just work with computers.” 

“Besides if he wanted to work for a real supervillain, wouldn’t he be working for you?” Rhodey asks. 

He’s sitting in one of those rolling-chairs, and despite that, he made it his throne. He’s relaxed in it, perfectly at peace with the situation. All eyes are on him. 

“I’m not the one that the government is after.” 

“And yet I’m the one who’s successfully paid taxes. Where have yours gone, hm? Strip club in Vegas? Weapon sales in Afghanistan?” 

Obie freezes. 

Tony knows that when you freeze, it is your worst tell. 

“Does dad know?” 

This time, Rhodey turns towards him. He’s surprised. 

“We’ll discuss that later. But does Howard know, Obadiah?” 

“Howard is none of your concern.” 

“Oh my god, he is,” Rhodey says grinning. “You haven’t told him about your little back-door escapades. I wonder what would happen if I told him.” 

“You don’t want me as an enemy,” Obadiah says, shaking. He looks at Tony. “And you, boy, you just earned yourself a death sentence.” 

“Funny, Howard said the same thing when he kicked me out of the house,” Tony says as he’s checking his nails. Rhodey thinks he is in love. 

“Go ahead and try to get me as an enemy, see how well it works for you,” Rhodey says, pearly whites on display. “I took over the entire state of New York, leaving everyone in power allied with me. Plus, Tony hasn’t pushed his legacy from what I’ve seen, but what would happen if I just...let him talk? At the next press conference, perhaps.” 

Tony grins, and it’s dangerous. 

“Yeah Obie, what if I talked? I’m sure Howard’s disastrous attempt at fatherhood would be a real uptick in stock points.” 

“You wouldn’t.” 

“Just watch. Just fucking watch,” Tony says. “I still know how to smile for the press, and I still remember all of my lessons for how to make sure anything is believable.” 

He shakes. 

Rhodey gets security. 

Tony visibly relaxes as Stane is led out of the building, and Rhodey smiles over at him. 

“What?” 

“You wanna grab dinner with me?” 

“Like as a casual dinner, or a date-dinner?” 

“How about both?” 

“Thank god, I can’t remember where my nice shoes are.” 

- 

Tony supposes it is odd to be out to dinner with one of the most-feared men in all of New York. 

But it was hard to fear him when he was currently trying to lick ice cream off the tip of his nose with no such luck. 

Or when Rhodey kisses him senseless on his doorstep and makes fun of the little gnome that he’s put outside, and Tony giggles and watches him leave in his fancy car, still leaning on his door. 

Oh, he’s got it bad. 

But he doesn’t mind. 

#this was supposed to take a WAY darker turn #but then i forgot bc i listened to frank sinatra #so instead it is now funnie #lovelyirony writes #rhodeytony #rhodey becomes a villain but like. ethical? i'm joking #i just wasn't sure how to make him Villain Supreme #tony doesn't exactly mind #pet names out of SPITE #i love that dynamic #tony stark #rhodey #james rhodey rhodes #obadiah stane

[missinghan]

dandelion ⤖ hwang hyunjin

❖ genre : strangers to lovers!au; fluff; angst

❖ word count : 12,2k.

❖ warning : explicit language 

❖ summary : it’s funny how you’ve been second-guessing every single thing in life to the T but the only thing you didn’t just happens to be running after a total stranger named Hwang Hyunjin.

one.

“And that, my friend, is the end of the chapter. See, that wasn’t so hard, you just need to pay more attention to the details.” Minho shuts his textbook closed and grins at you from your laptop screen. 

Your typical Monday starts with online school and ends with Lee Minho since your non-existent brain cells furiously agree to comprehend zero ounce of what your teacher rambled about accounting. Being the sly snake that he is, Minho ‘kindly’ offered you a weekly tutor session with him. Kindly, that is. And you simply cannot see that specific word in his less than appropriate vocabulary when all he did for the past ninety minutes was repeating the same damn things that your teacher did last week. 

You groan rather quietly. “How am I supposed to pay more attention to them when they’re so fucking small ?” And you don’t even have to think twice to see that smug smile appearing on your friend’s face. 

One that pops up whenever he’s clinging onto Han Jisung’s back like the sloth that he is, one that also occurs when he’s mentally prepare himself to clapping back at you with the most obnoxious yet witty comment that’s gonna make you wanna jump through the laptop screen and strangle him until he begs you to stop.

“Well, aren’t you being unreasonable ?” Minho tuts. “In fact, the smallest details are by far the most important.” You can’t help but scowl when he’s talking all calmly in his wisdom glory as if he’s Sherlock Holmes and you’re John Waston, running after him from one place to another as he keeps lecturing you and acting all mysterious with his stupid deerstalker. 

As if he’s asking you to examine a dead body with grand conclusions and spits at you afterwards “Nice one John, you missed every single essential detail that’d give us a lead, again.” A stark contrast compared to when he’s yelling and running around spontaneously. Tsk, so unnecessary. 

You feel a rush of air rising up in your rib cage as you cough harshly into the sleeves of your shirt. “Alright— smartie pants, how about you— go find Han and just make— out on Changbin’s expensive leather couch, yeah ?” You say between coughs, hand reaching for the oxygen tubes that’s carelessly thrown on the side of your bed. 

The boys always come over to Changbin’s place for a movie night every Monday. You believe that they’re planning on seeing the sequel of ‘Jumanji’ to switch it up instead of watching Woojin’s sappy dramas. How fitting. 

Minho pouts. “Come on sour patch, don’t be mad. I didn’t mean to point out how much of a dumbass you are.” And it’s no doubt that those words of his are dripping with sarcasm and fake empathy. He’s too predictable at this point. 

Normal people would have freaked out to see their friend choking on air like this but it’s been countless times since Minho saw you hacking up lungs and had people yelling at him “Why the fuck are you just standing there ? She’s dying !” But truthfully, you do that all the time and he just doesn’t want to waste a single chance to at least make fun of you.

You sneer at him. “Hold your fucking tongue, you hypocrite.” As you put on the oxygen tubes and loop them around the rim of your ears, you breath adjusts itself slowly and steadily until you don’t sound like a drowning donkey again. 

“Whatever Y/N, I hope you don’t fail Park’s accounting class because that’d ruin my reputation.” Minho rolls his eyes dramatically as if the scene he’s just caused wasn’t dramatic enough in the first place. “Do you have the slightest idea of what I was trying to teach you for the past hour and a half ?” He asks semi-seriously because no matter how passionate he is about pestering you, you failing a subject because of him is the last thing he wants to go home with on his conscience. 

“Nope.” You beam. 

Minho closes his eyes and takes in a sharp breath. He’s trying so hard not to scream out loud right now, such an amusing sight. “It’s fine, it’s fine.” He repeats after himself, sounding more like he’s trying to prevent himself from exploding rather than comforting you about your stupidity. “We can just start over, I’ll just make a quick summary and you try to do the assignments by yourself after this, okay ?” 

“Fine.” 

And as Minho starts blabbering about the mere basics of accounting, the door swings open to reveal Jackson - your nurse - who’s pushing a cart full of medications inside your room, the wheels screeching against the tiled floor. “Having fun with maths again, I see.” Jackson comments with a mischievous smile. 

“Hey Jackson !” Minho inquires innocently. They both used to share a room when Jackson was still in college. Not to mention, he was good friends with 3racha and made dope music for Minho’s auditions. So you can say that Minho’s technically allowed to fanboy a little over your nurse. “You best believe that Y/N has been doing the most to comprehend what I was saying since she just appreciates me so much.” 

Jackson cackles loudly, too loudly for the sake of being in a hospital. He’s lucky that they spent a good amount of cold, hard cash to make the walls soundproof. “Just bear with her until freshman year is over. Don’t pick on the sick kid, that’s not very nice.” And now all you want to do is to put both of their heads on a stick because you know that having both Jackson Wang and Lee Minho in the same conversation is equivalent to the definition of ‘oneself against the world’. Because Jackson too, acts like an old bitchy cat and loves to laugh his ass off at your impending misery. 

You grit. “Square the fuck up.” But the scowl on your face soon fades as your nurse reaches his hand outwards underneath the blue fabric that has the whole cart covered and pulls out a brown paper bag. Now, it’s Jackson’s turn to give you a dirty look when you gratefully take the McDonal’s order from his hand like a three-year-old. “You peasants can live for the time being.” 

“You’re lucky that your body needs 3000 calories per day or else Jaebum will fire me for feeding you junk food so often.” He informs you rather sarcastically as he scatters your description medications across the table where you’d chose to put your collection of stuffed animals instead of other necessities like textbooks or plastic binders. “I didn’t sign up for this FYI, ugh, I need money to pay off student’s loan too you know ?”

And that’s another perfect example of one hundred and one reasons why you’re not pumped for college like other kids. First off, what do you mean if someone’s privileged then they get to turn the assignment in later than everyone else ? And secondly, how the fuck can a graduate pay off their loans when they’re struggling like a fish out of water to find a decent job ? Not to mention, college dramas are the absolute worst. Things won’t be as lighthearted as highschool when students are entering bars with fake IDs and do drugs to get their minds off things that are stressing them out, which is almost everything. 

In conclusion, college is just more of a shithole than highschool so you don’t really get the hype about it. 

“You’ll be fine, Wang, stop being so whiny.” You snicker and drop a french fire into your mouth before chewing obnoxiously. “Have fun with your night shift.” You wave him off as he glares at you while pushing the cart outside. The moment Jackson swings the door open again, you can see a figure passing by but this one in particular catches your attention. And surprisingly, it’s a boy because it’s been ages since you have some kind of interest in guys, non-platonically of course. 

Not to be one of those creepy people, but you’d admit it, he’s quite the looker. Defined nose, full lips and cute mono lids, the air tossing his black mullet like how every protagonist makes their entrance into the movie. But he also has oxygen tubes put on just like you, perhaps you’re in the same boat ? Either way, that’s not the point because while pretty boy’s out there looking like a runway model in sweatpants, you’re nothing more than a couch potato because you’ve been doing nothing other than staying in bed all day. 

Good gracious he’s cute. 

“And that is how you can work on simple balance sheets.” Your friend closes in but frowns at your lack of attention. The door finally closes with a soft ‘click’, hurrying you back to reality to find a not-so-happy looking Minho. “Y/N, would you be a sweetheart and tell me that you didn’t miss a single detail during the last five minutes ?” His smile is rather stiff because his facial muscles are struggling hard not to burst as anger slowly bottles up inside of his chest captivity. For fuck’s sake, he hates it when you don’t listen on purpose. 

You cock your head to the side dumbfoundedly. “Wait— everything makes no sense.” 

Minho sighs in desperation. “Oh... what if you were smarter ?” 

two.

“Kkami !” Someone exclaims from behind you. 

You stop in the middle of your track and take out a side of your earbuds. The footsteps are getting louder and louder by the second along with the male voice. “Excuse me- pardon- Kkami I swear to God !” You decide to take a full ten seconds to comprehend what’s happening before turning around. The next thing you know is your head comes in contact with something hard, causing you to stagger backwards and land on your bottom. 

“Ugh, my head.” You wince at the aching feeling on your back as your pupils slowly dilate and adjust your vision on the current surroundings. The moment you lay your eyes on the figure in front of you, your mouth automatically lets out a silent scream. A cute boy just bumped into you, but then again, you wouldn’t overreact if he’s just any other cute boy. But he’s that cute boy who managed to distract you from Minho, who got your attention even when you just stared at him through a barely opened door. 

The boy widens his eyes when he sees what he’s caused. “Oh shit, I’m so sorry.” He apologizes with a smile, offering you a hand to pull you up right. “Are you okay ?”

You take his hand, almost flinching when his touch sends electricity throughout your body. His hands are much bigger than yours and are fully capable of enveloping your smaller ones with ease. You like that about him because you’ve never truly experienced what it feels like to hold someone’s hand in a non-platonic way. “Uhm, yeah, I’m okay but are you though ? You sounded like you’re going through a crisis looking for someone.” 

He smiles at you, eyes forming little crescent moon shape. “My mom brought my dog here and he accidentally ran off.” His laugh is melodic, sounding just like Mozart to your ears and you can’t help but crack a smile too. “It was nice meeting you, and I really have to go find him before he got to the NICUs or something… but I think we should get to know each other more. What do you say ?” He chides with a slight smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. 

You yank his hand away harshly. “I thought you’re better than that.” It’s ridiculous how boys with A+ look can just slide into your lives and stay for as long as they want then just disappear as if they’ve never been there in the first place. You’d hate to see a version of yourself who spends all day crying in bed because some bastard doesn’t love her back so this pretty boy over here better go before you throw him off a cliff. 

“Don’t ever talk to me again.” And with that, you walk away without turning your head, not even once. Well, so much for a Tuesday afternoon. Tuesdays are supposed to be easy-going for you since you just have to get yourself through several assignments and essays but someone just had to pop up in your life and ruin everything. 

The scowl on your face drops when you push the glass door of the pediatric unit open. Immediately, the kids see you and quickly abandon their nurses to run towards your direction. Your dad just got back from a business trip in Sydney and he still thinks that you’re a nine-year-old so your room is basically filled with candies and other sweet treats. That’d better change today. “Behave well and all of you will have one.” You chuckle at the kids’ eagerness, personally handing one bag over to each and every one of them. 

Five minutes later, the amount of treats are slowly trickling down until there’s only one bag left. In which, you’ve saved it for a specific someone since he’s just that obsessed with Australian candies. Your phone buzzes. How convenient. 

[ 3:45p.m. ]

yongbokie | okay, I’m here, where are you ?

y/n | seventh floor, just go straight down the hallway and it’s on the right side. 

“Here’s your worksheets, now where’s my Tim Tam Slam ?” Felix shoves the stack of papers into your arms as soon as he spots you inside the pediatric unit, surrounded by children, a whole lot of children. He knows your love for kids all too well and the fact that you’re lonely in this hospital is no shocker. Meaning, you’re a part-time kindergarten teacher ( aka whenever you feel like slacking off on school work ). 

You scoff at him, throwing the bag of candies at him with as much aggression. “Changbin’s gonna kick you out sooner or later if you end up looking like a pig, enjoy it while you can.” That’s obviously useless since Seo Changbin is as utterly soft for Lee Felix as you are for kids. Both are annoying little pricks but somehow, your little heart can never get mad. “And you better share that with Chan too or else he’s gonna write an entire diss track about me.” 

“CB97’s new diss track material is apparently Tim Tam Slam, how terrific.” Your friend snickers and tears the bag open single handedly with his teeth while his other hand tapping away on his phone. He doesn’t even need a cup of hot chocolate, that’s how bad Felix is craving his childhood candy. 

“Ooh, earrings ? And jeans too ?” He cocks a brow at your dainty pieces of jewelry. And you never wear jeans in the hospital, never. You think that’s it’s equivalent to asking someone to suffocate you as if the hospital isn’t suffocating enough. “Who are you trying to impress ?” 

Upon his teasing, you let out an audible groan. For once in your life, you’ve made up your mind and actually packed something decent because hospital romance is a thing and you need to be prepared at all times. Not to mention, you might as well snatch yourself a guy who’s totally father material because you hang out at the pediatric unit most of the time. “Haha, very funny. Try and find me someone cute then.” 

Just then, very slowly, a familiar figure takes long strides towards your direction. “Anyone, but him.” You deadpan.

“Him ?” Felix says over a mouthful of chocolate as he turns his head to the front door. 

And holy shit. 

To your dismay - with a bag over his shoulder, face flushed from running with beads of sweat rolling down his cheeks that make him glow like Edward Cullen and his wet fringe covering his eyes slightly — is the pretty boy from yesterday, well, more like five minutes ago. They say everything’s uglier close-up but not him. He’s absolutely breathtaking, undeniably brilliant as if he had just stepped out from an anime. But you’re not falling for that perfect smile again, at least for the time being. 

“Oh hell no.” Felix quickly identifies the boy and hangs his jaw open, the plastic wrapper falling out from his hand. You look at your friend in disbelief, your expression mirroring his - completely lost for words. 

The boy waves his hand at him and smiles widely. “Yongbok !” And just like that, your brain starts to process the new amount of overwhelming information. Slowly, and steadily, all the dots are connected. That guy is definitely heading towards your direction. No one knows Felix’s Korean name unless they’re close friends or family members. Jesus motherfucking Christ-

Felix demands loudly. “Hyunjin, do not move !” 

The pretty boy - whose name is apparently Hyunjin - stops abruptly at his friend’s sudden outburst. He turns his head only to accidentally make eye contact with you. Cocking a brow, he averts his attention back to Felix. You too, tug on your friend’s sleeve before questioning him. 

“You know him ?” “You know her ?” 

Felix widens his eyes in terror and quickly pushes Hyunjin away. “You people are insane ! Six feet away at all times, it’s a fucking simple protocol !” 

“Huh- wait what ?” You stutter. Soon enough, all of the colors on Hyunjin’s face are completely drained and a worrisome feeling suddenly runs down your spine. 

You exchange a weird look with him. “Don’t tell me that you’re a...“

“Are you also a… “ 

Felix face palms himself. “You fucking guessed it.” 

three.

The next few weeks get a little bit mayhem since you’re wrapping up the semester while being hospitalized at the same time. Meaning, you’re struggling real hard to balance the whole feud with finals and all of the medical stuff along with really boring paperwork because your body decided to fail you once again. 

No one was really able to give you company since they have to deal with their own problems too. Your parents are busy with their draining business trips while your brother - Woojin is getting his bachelor degree soon. And Minho is graduating in less than a month. Moreover, you haven’t met the pretty boy since your first and only encounter. 

Speaking of the Devil, “Fancy seeing you here.” 

You peel your eyes away from your laptop and see Hyunjin. In which, almost makes you fall right off the stool that you’ve been occupying for the last hour. You’re still procrastinating like highschool but you’re actually determined to finish your essay because if not, you won’t be able to walk away from your problems again. 

“Six feet away at all times, not six feet under the ground. So knock it off.” You deadpan, ushering him further away with a wave of your hand. If you were being completely honest, Hyunjin just took the breath right out of your lungs at the slightest glance. Time really does make people blind because you almost forgot that although he did try to flirt with you that one time, he’s also drop dead gorgeous. And that makes your heart tingles, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. 

Hyunjin makes a ‘I’mma-need-you-to-relax’ face and takes a seat on the opposite side of the table. “You still radiate big passive aggressive energy, not so good of a first impression.” 

You laugh dryly. “Speak for yourself. Talk about some shitty flirting skills.” 

“In my defense,” He raises a brow and throws you a look, one that makes you feel personally attacked. “I was genuinely trying to make friends, you sure know how lonely it is to be hospitalized all the time, don’t you ?”

You sneer at him. “Well, you picked the wrong person.” 

“How am I supposed to know that you’re also a CF-er ?! You weren’t wearing your oxygen tubes.” 

Apparently, you think that life hates you more than most of the world’s population because you weren’t just born with cystic fibrosis, you were born into it. The genetic disease gifts you with constant lung infections and gives you a hard time to breath in order to function like a normal human being. More accurately, the protein inside your body becomes dysfunctional so it loses the ability to move chloride to the cell surface. Meaning, the mucus in various organs can attract more bacteria along with germs, causing infections and inflammation. 

So naturally, minimizing contact with any kind of germs and other CF-er are your top priorities unless you want to catch their bacteria and choke to death on it instead. With that being said, you’ve just come to a realization that Hyunjin touched you the other day, skin to skin without any kind of protection like gloves. Some CF-ers have caught each other’s bacteria before by touching a doorknob, and that story scared you shitless. 

You speak up, finally. “Uhm… so.. were you okay ?” 

“If you’re asking if I got cross-infection or not, then no, I’m totally fine. None of that B. cepacia shit.” Hyunjin answers while avoiding your eyes. He quietly reaches inside his backpack and pulls out a blue binder that looks like it’s been used since elementary school because plastic never really goes away. 

You raise a curious brow when he pulls out some pieces of papers that are covered in an awfully dizzy amount of words. “What you got there, pretty boy ?” 

“Now you’re talking, I almost ended up on the ground laughing when you thought that I was nothing but a shallow fuckboy.” Hyunjin is still pissed off because not only did you despise him, you also happens to be Felix’s best friend. Totally irrelevant, but he’s also mad at Felix for not telling him about you sooner. Maybe it’s because he doesn’t want the both of you to accidentally kill each other or anything but still, Hyunjin did hold your hand and nothing happened. 

You prop your head on your hand, lips cracking a smile. “But I’m interested now, no hard feelings. You really need to lighten up drama lama.” You’re just noticing this now, but it seems like he’s really similar to Felix. Point break, he’s an easy victim to pick on anytime, anywhere. Of course you’re going to take advantage of this. 

Hyunjin replies monotonously. “I need to practice my lines for the upcoming play for finals season.” He’s trying so hard not to give in and smile at you because he’s decided to play hard to get. 

“No wonder why you’re a dramatic little dipshit. How fitting.” You grin coyly at the scowl on his face. “Okay, sorry, let me tone that down. What are you guys playing ?” 

Hyunjin groans. “We’re trying to fit an entire season of ‘Once Upon a Time’ into a two-hour play. And my fucking God, Captain Hook has a shit ton of lines.” Although it does appeal as a privilege to other people that drama majors can skip through the whole ‘cramming and crying’ to pass their finals, what people don’t know is the amount of work and effort that needs to be put into a single play. It requires patience, team chemistry, diligence and lots of, lots of caffeine to have a decent performance for the whole school. 

There was this one time he pulled seven all nighters in a row just to finish ‘Peter Pan’ before the holiday hit. And for the following five days, he basically lived on his bed and fed on leftover pizza that his roommate refused to microwave. 

You offer him kindly. “Maybe I can help you practice ?” You really feel like a fucking angel with your own imaginary halo shining ever so brightly on the top of your head. “I got nothing better to do anyway, not planning on being stuck with accounting 24/7 or I’m gonna end up in an insane asylum.”

“Thought you’re already in one.” 

“Say that again and I’ll skin you alive !” 

four.

Hwang Hyunjin is fortunately blessed by whatever gods up there because you finally finished finals way before the D-day of his play. Which means you feel even more obligated to help him practice his lines. 

But in all seriousness, he technically doesn’t need you because all you do is read the other characters’ lines right off the script anyway. Unlike you, even in the hospital cafeteria with a stainless steel fork as the hook on his right hand, Hyunjin plays the character as if he’s the one and only, non-biological heir of Leo DiCaprio. 

You can see why he chose the dramatic arts because he embraces and studies closely every movement, every gesture, every inch of flesh, every drop of emotion that his character has to offer. No wonder why they let him play one of the male protagonists because you can’t imagine anyone other than him play the iconic Captain Hook. And it’s actually nice to not having him spatting some kind of witty comments at you every two minutes. 

You clap your hands together. “Act 4. Scene 1.” 

“I already told you, I’m just a blacksmith !” Hyunjin tries to whimper as quietly as possible to avoid dirty looks from other people. He’s portraying that scene where Hook basically got tied up on a tree so that the others could get him talking. 

Your eyes narrow down into a glare, mentally throwing daggers at his general direction. Meaning if Hook doesn’t spill who he really is, he’s gonna be the monster’s meal in a matter of time. “You won’t talk to us ? Maybe they’ll talk to you and snatch one of your limbs for lunch.”

“You can’t just leave me here like this !” He sudden yelps, startling you in the process. You quickly avert your attention from the script to his eyes, clearly they show nothing but desperation and mischief. As the character should have. 

“Su-Sure you’re not.” You stutter, not knowing how to express the words inside the parentheses. 

Hyunjin guides you patiently. “Say it like you’re gonna set me on fire if I dare to test you. Be aggressive, talk aggressively, act aggressively. Aggressive is your middle name now.” His voice starts to get louder and louder at the end, a thing that he accidentally adapted from Chan. He doesn’t even need megaphones to yell at someone at this point. 

You give him a curt nod before gripping the script tightly once again. If you’re gonna help him, you’ll have to make it seem like you’re not slacking off. 

“Sure you’re not.” You deadpan, cringing at your own attempt to sound intimidating. Acting was never your thing either way. You’ve only been chosen for pity roles like ‘Girl #2’ or ‘Tree #5’ for some plays back in middle school and the beginning of highschool. 

He smirks. “Good for you. You bested me. I can assure you that the number of people who have done that before can only be counted on one hand.”

Another thing, you fucking love Emma Swan because she’s practically your twin. The only thing is that you’re not even half as badass as her. Sometimes you don’t even realize that there’s a script in your hands this whole time. “I’m sorry, was that supposed to be funny ? Who are you ?”

“Kilian Jones.” Hyunjin says with a glint of fierceness flickering in his irises. His intense gaze almost makes you run straight into the restroom and scream for a good five minutes. “But most people have taken to call me by my more colorful moniker, Hook.” The rasp in his voice sends chills to the core of your bones. 

You cock a brow. “As in, Captain Hook ?”

He beams. “Ah, so you’ve heard of me.”

You pant slightly out of nervousness, gripping onto the edge of the wooden stool for fuck’s sake. “Hurry up, they’re getting closer. Unless you want to be dinner, you better start talking.” 

Hyunjin shakes his head gently. “Don’t just read out the line. Don’t become the character. Make the character yours. Make it seems like her lines are personally tailored to every single detail of your existence.” He’s mentoring you as if you’re the one who plays Emma Swan and not that one pretty girl from his class. You swear, you’re not a stalker, he literally just spilled everything about his life after very few conversations with you. 

You nod. “Hurry up, they’re getting closer. Unless you want to be dinner, you better start talking.” This time, you finally got a good grip on the character’s emotions, slowly falling into a haze. 

“Cora told me to gain your trust so that I can learn everything there is to know about your storybook.” Hyunjin singsongs, lips curling upwards. You really want to deck him in the face right now. That’s how good of an actor he is. “She didn’t want any surprises when she got over there.”

You pretend to be in disbelief, jaw dropping in the process. “She can’t go there. We already destroyed the wardrobe.” 

He chuckles this time. God you wish you can wipe that stupid smirk off his face, although everything’s just an act. “Ah, my enchantment remained. Cora gathered the ashes and she’s gonna use them to open a new portal.” He looks at you, wiggling his brows to show off his skills before continues. “Now, if you’d just kindly cut me loose—“

“Let’s go.” You say monotonously to your non-existent cast, waving your free hand as a signal for them to walk away. 

“Wait !” Hyunjin slams his fist on the table loudly. It seems like he’s getting immersed in the character again because he can’t be bothered to give two shits about the fact that everyone’s having their eyes on him. More accurately, on the two of you. “You need me alive !”

You also try to ignore all of the weird looks. “Why ?”

“Because we both want the same thing. To get back to your land.” When you meet Hyunjin’s eyes, you nod at him to continue with the script. “I initially arranged for transport with Cora, but seeing just how resourceful you are, I’ll offer you the same deal. I’ll help you as long as you promise to take me along.”

You clear your throat. “How are you going to help us ?”

Hyunjin proceeds to elaborate, slowly. “The ashes will open a portal but to get to your land, she’ll need more. There’s an enchanted compass, Cora seeks it. I’ll help you obtain it before she does.”

“So Cora won’t make it to Storybrooke and we’ll be one step closer to being home. Sounds too good to be true.” You mock him, the corners of your mouth twitching slightly. 

“Well, there’s only one way to find out.”

“I’ll need you to tell me one thing then.” You point the tip of your sword (knife) directly at his throat (a good three inches away) as an attempt to threaten him. “What does the infamous Captain Hook want in Storybrooke ?”

“To exact revenge on the man who took my hand. Rumplestiltskin.” Hyunjin finishes his line and claps, breaking out of character. He looks disturbed at the particular way that you’re pointing the knife at him. “And… cut ! Put the knife down, Y/N. You’re a sadist, not a murderer.” He pushes the piece of cutlery away as if it’s a ticking bomb. 

This time, it’s your turn to wiggle your brows at him. “You don’t know me. What if I’m an actual murderer who preys on the innocent at night, when everyone’s fast asleep in their cozy beds, when they’re the most vulnerable ? What if I’ve been living a double life this entire time and you’re my next target ?” Actually, scratch that. Hyunjin thinks you’re pretty fitting for the role of Regina aka the Evil Queen. 

“Admit it you moron, you’re a sucker for my acting.” He flips his imaginary long hair and you make a gagging noise. It seems like Hyunjin has adapted the habit of holding grudges from Felix because the shy pretty boy that you met a few weeks ago is nowhere to be seen. Like he has grown accustomed to you, he treats you like an old friend, just catching up on things with each other. But in reality, his confidence level just went from a 100 to Han Jisung because you’ve been feeding his ego way too much. 

“There’s room for improvement.” You shrug, trying to keep a straight face. Emphasis on the ‘trying’ part. “Bet you’d do better if that pretty girl was here.”

Hyunjin blows a few strands of loose hair out of his face. He looks really good with disheveled hair, and it’s tickling something at very bottom pit of your stomach. “Kinda wish you could play Emma. You two are literally the same person. She’s just slightly cooler because at least she doesn’t sleep with opened windows.” 

“Is this a fucking call out ?” You hold back the urge to slap him with your slippers. “My room’s on the third floor for fuck’s sake.”

“Rapists can climb.” He smiles cheekily and it makes you ponder about how many more questionable behaviors of his you'd have to deal with for the long future. “You’re definitely going, don’t leave me hanging okay ?” Hyunjin declares and slaps a ticket on the wooden surface, sliding it across the dining table. 

You blink countless times at the ticket, hesitating to grab it with your bare hands. “Take it, I’m wearing gloves anyway.” He reassures you, skimming through some of the scenes that he feels like he could do better. Hyunjin might not look like it but he’s really hard on himself. He takes every single scene, every single line seriously and you admire that about him. He even complained to you how he could have done better for the role of Diaval for ‘Maleficent’ from last month’s play. 

“So the play’s on March 20th ?” You play dumb and pretend to question him after reading the bold letters written in gold. 

Hyunjin peels his eyes away from the script and smiles, eyes forming little crescent moon shape. “Yeah, the day that I’m turning 21, kinda terrifying but since it’s adulthood, I’ll have to bear with it for the rest of my life. At least I have the right to make decisions for myself now.” 

You ask him timidly as your hand fiddle with the sleeves of your hoodie. “Uhm so, do you wanna, I don’t know, get coffee after that or something ?” 

He gives you a dirty look, hard. Clearly Hyunjin’s annoyed. “Look who wants coffee now.” 

“That’s not a ‘no’ that I heard.” 

“You’d better pay up then, I haven’t got paid yet.” 

five.

[ 8:23p.m. ]

y/n | meet me on the terrace.

“Oh my god oh my god oh my god.” Hyunjin mutters as he rushes to the dressing room, and even more loops of ‘oh my god’ run through his mind, faster than a lighting bolt. He totally forgot about you until you made eye contact with him when the cast members took a full ninety degrees bow to the audience. You were clapping, cheering on for him like an old friend. But you were smiling, so brightly that he thought you could have lit up the entire stadium on your own. 

Chan finally finishes bowing to the rest of the cast and the crew. He feels like he can only breathe properly once the play came out smoothly. Unfortunately, it didn’t. Minho slipped over his long coat during the second scene, Seungmin was struggling with the lighting and Jisung nearly threw himself over the balcony. Besides that, everything went pretty okay. Little errors are unavoidable so he’ll let everything slide, because the play that he spent months planning out, training the cast so eagerly didn’t come out as a flop. 

“Woah, mate, where are you going in such a hurry ?” He quirks a brow when Hyunjin swings the door open, hair disheveled with ‘panic’ written in bold capital letters across his forehead. 

Changbin supplies unhelpfully as he steps out from behind the black curtain. Little strips of confetti are sticking onto his sweaty hair, thanks to Jisoo who kinda went overboard with the can of hairspray. “He invited a friend to come in and watch the play, can’t leave her hanging now, can he ?” He wiggles his brows in the most obnoxious way possible, being the little pest that he is. 

“I didn’t even say that my friend’s a girl— she’s not even my friend— wait, she is but we’re not that close— what, fuck you.” Hyunjin gives up after four attempts of forming an actual sentence. As if he’s forgotten how to speak, his voice fails him once again when a witty retort lingers at the tip of his tongue. He gives in and goes behind the curtain, quickly changing out of his costume. Like okay, pirates are cool and all but their sense of fashion is pretty questionable because leather boots and salt water ? Not compatible. 

Changbin peels the confetti off his hair before singsonging. “Our Hyunjinnie got himself a date, he’s all grown up now.” 

Chan throws his head back and laughs wholeheartedly. This is why he’s not planning on falling for someone soon because having a chaotic, annoying group of friends can only make things so much more difficult. “Give him a break, Bin. A boy can love whoever his heart yearns for.” Then he pauses, and continues. “Do you want to tell us something about her ?” 

Hyunjin scrunches his nose and starts singing. “Sing a yo ho, you can beg, plead and whine. But yo ho you are wasting your time.” The moment he finishes the line, he’s already changed into his normal clothing and pushed the curtain open. 

Chan and Changbin looks unimpressed. They both think that their friend should really stop quoting his own lines. Hyunjin throws Changbin the hook, then checks his own reflection in the mirror. Not too shabby, at least he didn’t forget to shave this morning. But it’s just you after all, you’d never judge him… wait no you’re highly judgmental. You once called him out for having a piece of carrot in the corner of his lips, shameless. 

“Hear me out one last time, mates. Then I’ve got a date with destiny.” Hyunjin continues to sing because he’s absolutely enjoying every moment of Changbin suffering and mentally dying on the floor. He wouldn’t even feel bad if his ears started bleeding or something, hanging out with weird people have turned him into a sadist, just like them. Tragic. 

Before Chan decides to wrestle him to the floor, Hyunjin starts moonwalking towards the door as he jumps straight to the last bits of the song. “Sing a yo ho, I’ll meet her tonight. Yo ho must be fate’s design. At last our hearts can be intertwined, can’t wait, can’t wait, can’t wait. God is on my side.” He’s just making up lyrics at this point nothing makes sense anymore. 

The door shuts with a small ‘click’, making him snap his mouth closed. Then I’ve got a date with destiny. Right, a date. Well, it’s technically not a date when you asked him to meet up on the terrace where there’s so much to offer. A brilliant view of the city, the ethereal moonlight which sets the atmosphere, just you and him standing face to face.. holy shit it’s a date ? 

“You’re late.” 

Hyunjin whines loudly at your cold statement and supports himself on his knees, chest heaving up and down at an abnormal space. Cystic fibrosis and ten flights of stairs are like water and oil, they don’t blend. “I was changing, do you know how hard it is to slip out of those leather combat boots ?” Upon your silence, he leans himself against the metal railings and sighs, standing a good six feet away from you. “Hey, at least I looked fly in them.” 

You automatically groan because fuck yes, he did look hot. Pirates aren’t supposed to be hot, they’re supposed to be smelly barbarians with shitty attitude. “Since when are you so cocky ?” 

Hyunjin tuts. “I’m very much aware of how good looking I am, thank you for taking your precious time to care about my tiny existence on this glorious planet.” He cocks his head sideways, narrowing his eyes at your sketchy posture. Both hands are hidden behind your back and you’re trying too hard to keep a straight face. “What are you hiding from me ?”

“Nothing.” You let out a small giggle. Clearly he’s not buying it. “Fine, close your eyes.” 

Hyunjin frowns at you but still closes his eyes nonetheless. He has enough faith in you that you won’t have the heart to knock him out cold before selling him off to some kind of mafia organization. “Y/N if you’re planning on kidnapping me, you might as well just do it—“ The words grow dead on his tongue once a small ‘pop’ occurs. What the fuck ? 

“Hey Hyunjin.” 

He flutters his eyes open at the sound of his name rolling off your tongue. His hand immediately fly to his mouth to stop himself from screaming. “Oh my god, shut the fuck up !” He utters, shocked at what’s happening in front of his eyes. “You’re kidding, you’re kidding, you’ve got to be kidding me.” 

You laugh loudly at how frantic he is once you get down on one knee with a black velvet box in your hand. A silver band with his name engraved on the inside. “Hwang Hyunjin, can you fathom enough courage to walk with me through your youth even though sometimes you wish you could throw me off a cliff ? Can you bear the burden of indulging an impulsive and indecisive person like me in the long run ? Because if you can, then happy 21st birthday, you’re officially stuck with me with the label of being best friends.”

Hyunjin teases, lips curling up into a smile. “Can’t you be a little bit more romantic ?” Although he’s decently attractive, he’s still one of those guys who bury themselves in hopeless romance just because he spends way too much time on Netflix watching some random sappy show while Kkami is watching some stupid dog documentary right next to him on the couch. 

“Fine, I also got myself one. We’re matching.” You confess, showing him your band resting nicely around your index finger. “Since I just know you so well, are you happy with your present now birthday boy ?” 

You finish it off by slipping the ring onto his finger like a cherry on top of a sundae, watching in amusement at how his face is lighting up with joy. “Wow,” He manages the breath out, as light as a feather. “You’re so fucking cheesy, I hate you.” 

You laugh wholeheartedly. “Come on, let’s go downstairs. You have a whole party waiting for you to inhale. Cakes and junk food and all.”

When you stand up right again, shivers run down on your spine at the cold breeze passing by. The wind greets concrete and your skin just the same, tearing through the air and banging loudly against your eardrums. Hyunjin suddenly grabs the sides of your face, still keeping a good distance between you two. Your cheeks are instantly tinted pink at his touch. “Y/N ! Can you hear me ?!” He tries to shout over the wind but fails miserably. 

“What ??” You ask loudly, not being able to catch what he was trying to say. 

“No, you can’t hear me ??”

“What ? I can’t hear you !”

He beams at you and the strangest warm feeling bubbles up inside his stomach. “I have something to tell you !” If he’s doing this now, there’s no going back. 

“I still can’t hear you !”

Hyunjin ignores your confused expression. He slowly inhales to take a deep breath before shouting his heart out at you. “Y/N, I’ll protect you ! No matter what !”  

You can’t quite understand what he’s trying to convey to you but seeing him smiling so widely like this, you know that you could never trade him for anything else. Because no one has ever made you feel this way before, heart pounding inside your rib cage so loudly just by looking at him. You like how you can just see him, and be happy. 

He’s irreplaceable.

six.

Felix glares at the silver band wrapping around your finger, one that’s particularly matching with Hyunjin’s. “So what ? You two are dating now ?” 

“Lee Felix I swear to god, for the tenth time, it’s a just birthday present !” You cry loudly at your best friend overreaction. 

Jeongin butts in. “Yeah right, rings, matching and all. Don’t you think that’s a little bit romantic ?” You’re so fed up with these theatre kids it’s actually ridiculous, you’d rather be cursed than have them singsong into your ears everyday about how you and Hyunjin are acting somewhat sketchy. Sure, being dramatic is naturally what they do for a passion but sometimes you just can’t help it but snap at them to go and kiss a statue. 

“That’s the point of it, dipshit.” Hyunjin sips on his drink obnoxiously, reading through the final page of his reading assignment in a haze. He’s a little bit out of it from running around all day to not get yelled at by his professors for being late to every single damn lecture. “I’m desperate, I need something cute to lighten up my sad life so don’t judge me.”

Jisung suddenly pries loudly because unlike you or Hyunjin, he actually gives zero fuck about publicity and personal information. “Hyunjin and Y/N ? I ship it ! Since you both have been super single and super antisocial for so long, why not date each other ? Get married even, don’t you dare forget my invitation.” 

Needless to say, he quickly earns a smack on the head from Seungmin, hard. Hard enough to knock some logic and common sense into that little disturbing glimpse of thing that they call ‘a brain’ inside his head. “God, Han, you’re so dumb. If you want them to both choke on each other’s bacteria and die, then yeah, hit a five-star restaurant up with that reservation.” 

Sometimes Seungmin wonders why he even befriended Han Jisung in the first place. They nearly threw hands at each other back in highschool because Jisung would constantly forget his stuff inside Seungmin’s locker and Chan had to manually pull them apart later. 

“Actually..” Hyunjin fiddles with the strings of his hoodie. “I think I might have my eyes on someone.” Your heart automatically sinks at his words. Is this what betrayal feels like ? How come he’s never told you before ? Didn’t he promise that he’d never hide anything from you ? Does your friendship mean nothing to him at all ? 

You’d be lying if you said that you haven’t once thought about dating Hyunjin. But you don’t really see the point because it’s just a label over your relationship, it’s not gonna change how you treat each other. At least it’s not gonna change how you treat him. 

But in the end, you want nothing but the best for him so you’re obligated to become his dating counselor. 

Felix tuts eagerly. “Ooh, spill the tea. I’m here for it.”

“Let me guess, it’s that girl from Literature & Criticism 19B ?” Jeongin yawns lazily. Apparently he’s not digging the fact that Hyunjin doesn’t have any non-platonic interest in you. 

Hyunjin shakes his head profusely. “No ! We barely talk, it was only for a presentation from last month. And also I feel kinda awkward around her. Things never click between us.” 

Then, he proceeds to continue with dreamy eyes. “The girl that I’m talking about is so beautiful, so smart, so brave. She enjoys food like no other, like no one is watching and isn’t ashamed of the fact that she can live off donuts and Netflix for three weeks straight. She’s honest, playful but also very gentle and caring. Kinda reminds me of my mom, which is weird but whatever. Maybe people finding a sense of comfort in their partner who’s similar to their parents is a thing.” 

The look in his eyes makes your heart crack a bit. Just a teeny tiny bit. It’s that kind of look that you’ve never seen before but know too well what’s behind those brown eyes of his. The goddamn look one can only have when they’re thinking about that special someone who effortlessly makes their heart swell, who puts a smile on their face no matter what. It’s also that kind of look that you have whenever you’re thinking about Hyunjin. 

“Alright lover boy,” You crack a smile, rolling up your sleeves because things are about to go down. “You’ve just got yourself a dating counselor. A good old trusty friend who’s gonna be there if you accidentally have a mini mental breakdown on your first date.” 

“What do you know about dating ?” Felix’s more than stingy comment just stabs your sky high ego like a needle pricking the tip of a finger. 

You kick his knee from under the table, earning a low grunt in return. “I am the best in the business. Jackson Wang and Mark Tuan ? I did that.” 

Then you lace your fingers together neatly and look at Hyunjin dead in the eye. “So, what’s your ideal first date ?” 

He makes a thinking face. “I haven’t thought about that yet but maybe.. a hike ?” 

“Huh, cool.” You take a total of ten full seconds to process what he just said. 

You deadpan. “It’s a hard no. Consider the fact that she needs nothing but donuts and Netflix in her life, you’re gonna have to rage war with Satan in order to get her out of the house. Popcorn and blankets are total necessities, make them extra fuzzy too. Let’s stick a pin in that, we’ll get back to it later.” 

Felix asks, followed by a loud yawn. “Copy that, what shows is she into ?”

Hyunjin lets out a prolonged sigh. “I’m not so sure but she hates rom-coms and sappy dramas with a passion.” If you’re being completely honest, he really needs to calm down because if a girl is willing to cuddle with him, she’ll literally watch anything. And by that, you mean she will definitely pass out after the long winded introduction of the two protagonists. 

“Sounds like a gal who’d watch The Umbrella Academy.” And you totally didn’t say that just because it’s your favorite show. Because for once, Netflix actually didn’t produce something that was undeniably shitty. 

Hyunjin sounds uncertain. “I have never seen it before.” 

“But he can ?” Jeongin raises a brow.

You shake your head gently. “The show is vicious, violent and contains extremely disturbing content along with really shitty relationships between siblings. Also, the humor doesn’t suit you. Does a fifty-year-old man who’s stuck inside a thirteen-year-old boy’s body and is also someone who fell in love with a mannequin, grew up in a broken family, and became a murderer who timetravels sound enjoyable or what ?” 

Seungmin makes a face. “That can be a dealbreaker.” 

“Meet us halfway here !” Jisung clatters loudly. 

“Sorry, let me back it up a little bit.” You put your hands up in defense. “Hyunjin, it doesn’t matter if all you want to do is go out on a hike and she just wants to curl up into a ball inside her blanket. It doesn’t matter if you guys have different taste in movies. Nothing matters if she truly feels the same way for you because as long as the feeling is mutual, she’d definitely do anything to satisfy your picky ass.” 

Hyunjin doesn’t say anything. He turns his head to face the window and a grin quietly curls its way up on his lips. 

You should have seen the look on your face. 

seven.

Woojin growls at you from your laptop screen. “It’s one in the morning ! Get the fuck back to sleep !” 

He’s extra cranky today because he just finished off his final paper before graduation happens. Running on one hour of sleep per day with a cup of espresso doesn’t sound like the most ideal thing to do but fuck that, he’s not gonna throw all those years of crying over overdue projects in the trash. 

You on the other hand, are so fucking close to soil your pants because your heart is literally dangling off the edge. It’s either gonna roll backwards and land safely as if nothing has ever happened or everything’s going downhill from there. An endless pit of impending misery. And you’d hate to see yourself shedding tears while hogging a bucket of ice cream in your bed like a psychopath. So your only option is unfortunately, your hard headed, dumbass brother. 

But he’s not a complete idiot because his brotherly sixth sense is still there, and it’s never been better. “Okay, something’s up. Spill before I personally drag my ass to the hospital and beat you up to get something out of you.” 

You stutter, tripping over your own words like an absolute fool. “It’s— uhm… whatever, it’s not a secret anymore. It’s— it’s—“

“It’s Hwang Hyunjin.” Your brother reads your mind like a magician, leaving you utterly speechless. But it’s not even a surprise because apparently, everyone knows about your feelings for Hyunjin, just not Hyunjin himself. He’s unbelievably dumb even when Minho and Jisung keep on hinting at him in a not very subtle way. And that makes you wonder why you even fell for him in the first place. Even that fat cat who always takes naps on your balcony knows because you’d be smiling stupidly while FaceTime-ing Hyunjin all the time. It’s a miracle that the cat has not once given you a dirty look. 

You sigh. “Yeah, I‘m confused.”

“About what ?” Woojin huffs tiredly and blows some strands of hair out of his face. 

You blurt, panic mode is fully on. “About why I like Hwang Hyunjin so fucking much when he already had romantic interests in another girl !” 

Woojin thinks you’re being ridiculous and stubborn at the same time, which can make things that much harder for him to break it down for you. Firstly, if one is loved, then one is loved. There’s no reason needed for loving. This might sound like total bullshit, but ‘love at first sight’ is a thing, people are just too heartbroken to accept it these days. Secondly, if you really like Hyunjin all that much, you should be spilling your heart out at him, not at your brother. But whatever, Woojin is one step closer to pushing you towards confessing to your crush because he’s gifted with the ability to prevent you from doing anything dumb. 

“Then what makes you not wanting to like him ?” 

You widen your eyes. “What ?”

Woojin shakes his head gently, an exasperated sigh escapes his lips. “You can’t love all of him. This is real life, not a fucking John Legend’s song. If you don’t even know what you hate about him in the first place, you’re not gonna know why you like him relentlessly.” His words slowly sink into your mind, trains after trains of thoughts are dashing through your mind at the speed of light. Goddamn, your brother is right. 

“Gosh, I don’t know. I can’t hate him even when I want to.” Before you can pick every single strand of hair off your head, Woojin once again snaps you back into reality with a serious look on his face. He’s not messing around this time. “One, he’s a CF-er. And two, I’m not gonna be the one who walks down the aisle to have them announce our marriage. Three, he only sees me as a friend.” There’s no happy ending for people like you, especially you. The moment you found out that Hyunjin’s also a CF-er, you knew all too well that it’s over for you both. 

Your brother scrunches his nose in annoyance. He really should have signed you up for a dating counseling session. “You don’t know what the future holds. It could be better, it could be worse. Or nothing would change at all. Whatever happens, humans still yearn for the happy ending of their own imagination. Because after all, we were the one who pushed ourselves towards dead ends.” 

“What’s so wrong with loving someone ?” 

“There’s nothing wrong with loving someone, but how we love them.” 

Again, Woojin’s right. Every minute, every second, every moment with Hyunjin always leaves you completely stripped and vulnerable. All of your concerns, insecurities, and strength are revealed unintentionally. And the walls that you’ve spent years building ? Mercilessly destroyed. Someday, you’ll either look back on it and smile or you’ll realize that once you’ve fallen, there’s no turning back. You just can’t control who you’ll fall for. 

Being in love with Hyunjin is another reason why you believe that life hates you to the very core of your bones. It’s like the whole universe is playing with your mind, because all it takes is to make Hyunjin exists at the same time as you do. That alone is enough to mess up your entire existence. 

You cover your face with your blanket, voice muffled beneath the soft fabric. “What’s your point then ?”

“My point,” Woojin sits straight up from his bed and yawns in the loudest, most obnoxious way possible. “is that you can still fall for Hyunjin even when he’s a CF-er, even when he likes someone else. Hyunjin is still Hyunjin. Cystic fibrosis or none, he’s still just Hyunjin. And you love him for who he is. Don’t ever forget that. And don’t get mad when things don’t work out because loving is hard, loving is painful. You just try your best not to get hurt. Every scar has a story and it represents how you’ve grown throughout time. So it doesn’t matter if you accidentally trip and make a fool of yourself. You simply like Hwang Hyunjin, and I’m not going against that.”

You unknowingly smile. The perks of having an older brother always come at the most unexpected time. You suddenly feel bad for all of those kids who grew up without siblings. 

“So are you telling me not to be all sad and miserable ?”

Woojin nods absentmindedly. “Precisely. One day you might be strong enough to smile as you watch him intertwining his fingers with another woman’s. Give them your blessings, countless words will never be enough. What they want is your genuine honesty, how you’re truly happy for them. After that, take a different turn, or just move on as it is in silence. But do not let the memories that you made with him become meaningless because trust me, that hits harder. And that’s how you can love someone without being petty about it for the rest of your life.” 

You say. “I think I can hold back my tears when Hyunjin’s getting married now.”

“But he needs to know first.” Woojin interrupts you abruptly. 

You break out of your trance and ask. “Knows what ?”

“About your stupid feelings for him !” Woojin is quick enough to hold back the scream stuck inside his throat because if not, Chan’s gonna grill his ass so hard for making questionable noises in the middle of the night while his roommate is stressing over a song that’s yet to be complete. The double life between a college student and a SoundCloud rapper isn’t as hot as people tend to think. It just consists of a whole lot of cramming homework while trying to come up with a new batch of lyrics every two weeks. 

“He deserves to know that. The sooner the better.”

Conveniently, your phone buzzes on your night stand. 

[ 1:17a.m. ] 

hyunjin | I’m gonna do it. 

hyunjin | I’ll confess to her.

hyunjin | this is so terrifying what do I do ?

eight.

“Y/N wait up, you still have to take your medication !” Mark yells after your panicked figure dashing through the hallway while he’s pushing a cart with an awful amount of medicines piled up. 

You shout back at him abruptly. “I’ll be back in an hour ! Don’t tell Jackson about this !” Whatever, you hate being on a drug trials anyway. Having multiple pills shoved down your throat each and everyday makes you sick to the core. It seems like you’re only getting closer to being buried six feet under the ground. But that’s not the point. 

Point is, if you’re going to die sooner or later, there’s no way in hell you’d let your life end before you tell Hyunjin how you truly feel about him. 

“Hyunjin, where exactly are you going ?” You manage to talk in between short breaths while having him on the other line. 

He replies bluntly, uneven breathing and quick footsteps can be heard. “You know how everyone has their own youth, right ?” You keep running despite the fact that what he said just makes no sense. What on Earth is he planning on doing ? 

“I also have a youth of my own.” He pauses for a while. “But it seems like… my youth is one to be forever reserved.”

You shake your head furiously, confused at what he’s trying to convey. “Hyunjin, I don’t get it. One moment you’re talking about how you’ll confess to the love of your life and now you’re telling me this ? Did something happen ?” 

Hyunjin ignores your question and continues. “My parents would always urge each other to work harder, to make more money so that I can have a lung transplant and prolong my life day after day. But it’ll cost us five hundred thousand dollars, eight hundred even. So I was more than happy to tell them that I’m ready to stop walking on this beautiful flower path anytime. Then, I saw the heartbroken look in my mom’s eyes. That look, it’s— it’s haunting, and hurt me profoundingly.”

His breath hitches, making your heart drop to the pit of your stomach. Knowing that he’s in such a vulnerable state but there’s nothing you can do about it hits so hard that you hate yourself. “There was a man who came up and met me in my hospital room one day, told me that he saw every single play that I’ve participated in. He wanted to sponsor me, to let me fully enjoy my own youth, to give me the money to fly to the States, to get a lung transplant, and lead me to stardom afterwards.”

“But..” He suddenly chuckles. “I have no desire to receive his generosity. Not even one bit. Now, before you start yelling at me, hear me out. I know that I’m selfish, I know that I’m being stubborn but the life that he’s talking about. That’s not the life that I’ve always dreamt of. The life that I wanted, is one where all of my family and friends, are eternally safe, and happy. That’s it, it’s as simple as that. Hence, I’m willing to give that chance to someone else. Someone who’s very special and close to my heart.” 

Hyunjin lets out a muffled sob on the other line and you’ve never felt so helpless before. You just wish you could run to him, tell him that everything’s gonna be okay, and touch him. You don’t know how someone who’s so close can be so far away at the same time. 

“Because.. well, because cystic fibrosis isn’t just leading me on a path that’s one step closer to death, but it’s also threatening the happiness of the girl I’ve unfortunately fallen for. Unfortunately, that is. She’s always been the biggest ‘what if’ because there were nights where insomnia would creep up on my spine, it was impossible to shut my eyes with her on my conscience. Because why me ? Why me ? I just need a little bit more time, just a little so that I can see her smile, so that I can hold her close, so that I can finally tell her how I really feel.” 

“Time is a currency that you can only use, not make. And I’m already running low. Obviously, I can care less even if I die tomorrow. But as long as I’m alive, let me live as merrily as possible, as happily as possible, and to be able to see my loved ones as long as possible.”

Just then, it feels like the whole world just stops spinning when all you can hear is the sound of your shoes tapping against the ground, and him sobbing like a distressed child, raw deep down from the inside. You didn’t realize that you’re crying uncontrollably until salty drops of tears trickle down on your cheeks and drench the collar of your shirt. They blur your vision but you keep on running because Hyunjin needs you, he needs you now. 

The icy grey sky is like a piece of fabric draped over the whole town. Dark clouds snuggle closer to each other as they hold in the heavy rain in their delicate forms. All of a sudden, rain pours over you with a roar, thunders grumble vigorously in the distance. The coldness of its touch pierces right through your skin and chills run down your spine beneath your clothes that are now soaking wet. Your footsteps never once falter and continue to move on down the slippery path. 

“To love you as long as possible.” Hyunjin breathes out, as light as a feather. “Y/N, I hate to break it to you but I no longer want to be friends with you. Because I already love you too much to accept the label of being best friends.” He says with such determination and huffs. “With that being said, I’ll now consider the ring on my finger as a proposal. And to answer your question on my birthday, yes, I would love to walk with you on this path with the remaining time. I want to be with you for the rest of my life, to care for you, to be someone that you can lean on. So what do you say ? Are you ready to take my hand and my hand only ?”

“Yes, I am.” You stop once you’re right in front of the café that Jisung used to work in, where many unforgettable memories were made throughout time. And on the opposite side of the road, is Hyunjin. Your knees grow weak at the sight of him. Damp hair, teary eyes with a smile on his face. He’s absolutely ethereal and it’ll only take you a few more steps to get to him. “Hyunjin !” You wave at him, the balls of your feet automatically send you running towards his direction. 

You feel like you’re hazing because everything’s all too good to be true. How he’s looking at you lovingly, how you’re yearning for his touch, how you’re so close to have him in your arms. Sadly, the sound of rubber tyres hissing against the concrete floor snaps you back to reality. Before you can even process anything, there are two lights ahead blinding your eyes. With a jolt, you realize that those lights belong to a car. 

You didn’t know how it happened but the next thing you know is the feeling of the entire weight of your body is pinning you to the ground. Every single limb, every part, every organ inside your body feels like they are being crumbled like a piece of paper. Pain, there’s so much pain. The metallic taste of blood is soaking through your teeth, leaving you in that weird grey area between being awake and being unconscious. You can feel your flesh being torn open, your bones cracking, your lungs caving in for cramped air in silence. Silence, that scares you more than the blow itself. It feels like an eternity, just lying there, completely paralyzed as you wait for Death to arrive. 

It seems as if the agonizing pain is the only thing that's keeping you alive. 

“Y/N ! Y/N !” Hyunjin calls out to you helplessly as he cups the sides of your cheeks. Seconds later, you can feel his mouth against yours, giving you the amount of air that your lungs has been dying to have. “Y/N, stay with me, stay with me.” He mumbles against your ear before wrapping your arms around his neck to carry you on his back. Hyunjin is chasing time through the night, through the hellish downpour to not waste a single minute, a single second to keep you safe. Because he’s just so sick, so fucking sick of life for taking everything away from him. He’s not gonna lose you, not like this. 

“Hyunjin,” You whisper weakly.

He shakes his head. “Don’t fucking die on me or I’m never gonna be able to forgive you.” 

“Hyunjin, I’m kinda sleepy.” You laugh, tasting the coopery blood inside your mouth. “I’ll just take a nap, just for a while, okay ?” Hyunjin doesn’t say anything, you can’t tell whether he’s just being stubborn or he can’t hear you with the heavy rain down pouring onto him. But that doesn’t matter anymore because you’re far too exhausted to start arguing with him. Naturally, you’re going to allow yourself to black out either way. 

nine.

Weeks later, you’re standing on the rooftop by yourself to run away from the stuffy air of the hospital, those floors and walls that all have an undertone of bleach. They suffocate you, everything does. 

You watch the sunset at horizon, enjoying the majestic sight in front of you as if it’s the last thing you’ll ever witness. Rich hues of red, yellow, orange blend into one another gracefully, dancing in between the pink fluffy puffs of clouds. Your spirit soars into the distance as you inhale deeply, feeling refreshed after a long day. It does feel nice to not have all sorts of machines attached to your body like ropes that are tying you down into a single place and trapping you inside a tiny box. 

Everyday, you’d sneak out of your room to come up here, and meet him again. 

“Y/N,” You close your eyes, smiling at the sound of his voice echoing inside your ears. “By the time that you’re listening to this audio, I would probably, you know, be gone.” 

A single tear silently roll down on your cheek. “But I’ll tell you what. I’m not scared of dying, because having the persistent information that I’m always one step closer to hell than everyone else has accidentally made me numb. I am terribly afraid of one thing though.” Hyunjin clears his throat. “I don’t want to be separated from my friends, my family, and from you. Moreover, I don’t want to see the people whom I love so devotedly suffer just because of me. I know what you’re doing, wipe those tears off your face right now. Chin up, and smile. Or you’ll end up complaining about your face getting puffy again.”  

You laugh at his words, and attempt to wipe your eyes with the sleeve of your shirt. “Once I’m no longer walking on this flower path with you, that means a new chapter is ready to be open. I cannot thank you enough for bumping into me that day. And thank you for agreeing to practice my lines with me. I could have never played Captain Hook if it weren’t for you. And thank you, for the ring, it’s the most precious thing I've ever had on my hand. But I’ve figured… you deserve a new life. I know that five years doesn’t sound like much but maybe in those five years, things might change and there will finally be a cure for cystic fibrosis.”

“You might think, how could you possibly move on without me ? Well, think of me as a dandelion. Oddly charming, with a short life span. But I’ll never really go away because at the end of its life, a dandelion’s pistil will give birth to countless of seeds. Those seeds will be carried away by the wind and continue to grow, to breed, to multiply themselves for so many more purposes.” 

Hyunjin suddenly starts crying quietly, you can hear how he’s trying to muffle his sobs and it makes your heart shatter into a million pieces. There’s absolutely nothing that you can do. “I’m very content with the life current that I have, or had. At least I’ll die knowing that I have no regrets.” He chuckles. “But there’s still something that I need to tell you, just in case. Not to be pessimistic, but just in case.”

“Y/N, I love you, more than anything in the whole wide world. It’s so frustrating because there were times where I wish I could just have you in my arms, to feel your warmth, to kiss you, to touch you. I don’t care about labels because that wouldn’t change my feelings for you. I’d still love you foolishly because I care too much. Too much that it hurts. I want to spend the little amount of remaining time with you. I even don’t know if you’re the one but I need you in my life. You and only you.” 

His voice cracks. “...just don’t miss me too much, okay ?” 

You can swear that it’s not hazing but if you look far enough, Hyunjin is still there, waving at you with a smile on his face. 

Approximately six feet away. 

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[buckysgoldenheart]

Escort: Bucky Barnes AU

Summary: You’re a highly paid escort, trained to adapt to any situation the client may need. But this next client is a first: A mother, hiring you for her son.

Words: 3370

I know i’ve done a bad thing and started another series, hopefully small. I am still working on the other ones, but after my dad died, I lost inspiration until this story popped into my head and i kinda ran with it. Anyway, I hope you guys like it and aren’t mad.   -Lauren

This may be triggering in a way. The title pretty much explains what this is about, but it’s not negative.

Part 1:

You had been doing this for long enough to get the gist of want your clients want. Some were lonely and wanted someone to talk to for the night. Some wanted to take you out and brag about the beautiful, young girl on their arm. Some, the usual’s, wanted a fake girlfriend to take to family engagements to avoid scrutiny. But you were not a prostitute in the sense of what people assume. Your boss, Maria, was very clear to all potential clients that her girls do not engage in sexual relations in exchange for money. That’s not what her business was about. You and your coworkers were too expensive for the ‘street creeps and weirdos,’ as Maria liked to put it.

You were a girl strapped for cash and would’ve rather put a bullet in your head than take another retail job to pay for your college classes. And when Maria advertised it to you, that bit about the exclusivity made it seem safe somehow, but being rich or famous, or both, did not make someone any less of a creep or a weirdo. So, Maria was more than willing to put down money for mandatory self-defense classes that you would complete before taking your first job. Now, you and the other girls could kick anyone’s ass, even someone twice your size. At the end of the day, there were worse jobs.

 —————————————————————————————-

You were barely through the front door of your modest apartment, high heels already discarded, when you heard your cell ring. The caller ID was not one you were allowed to ignore unless ill or on the brink of death, which you were neither, so you sighed and slid the answer button.

“Hello, Maria.”

Your boss wasted no time with pleasantries and got right to the point. “I know it’s late and you had a long day, but I need you to get down to the office immediately. I have a client here and after looking at her options, she has decided on you.”

You were slightly taken aback. Her? While it wasn’t unheard of to have women request Maria’s services, it was rare. Most were annoyingly wealthy men with underlying and deeply suppressed self-confidence issues.

You sighed, internally groaning. You were exhausted after some guy’s family reunion today. It was too long and too humid, and his family was too obnoxious; prodding you with questions as if they knew who you really were. But you couldn’t turn down Maria’s requests. It was in the contract.

“I’ll be right down.”

——————————————————————————

You were still in your dress and heels from the reunion earlier: A simple light blue, but expensive looking, sundress and strappy, silver sandals, when you exited the elevator. Walking down the corridor to Maria’s office at this hour, you couldn’t help but notice how quiet it was around as your heels clicked loudly with your steps. None of the other girls were there. There was always at least one or two.

You shook your head and scrunched your eyebrows for a moment before knocking lightly on Maria’s door. “Come in.” She said from the other side. You turned the handle and stepped in with a pleasant smile. “Y/N,” Maria also smiled. “I would like you to meet your next client.”

Then, she gestured a delicate hand to the woman sitting in one of the luxurious office chairs. You nearly gasped at who was before you. Mid-fifties, hair styled in a neat chignon, tailored suit, with diamonds along her neck and at her earlobes that showed off her wealth.

The Mayor.

“Y/N, sit.” Maria said, slapping you back to your senses. But you did as she said, taking the other chair two feet away from the most powerful woman in the city. You couldn’t take your eyes off her. She oozed power and class. “I would like you to meet Mayor Barnes.”

The Mayor smiled and turned in her seat to shake your hand. “You are lovelier than your picture.”

“T-Thank you.” You replied, shy in the presence of this woman.

After the introductions, Maria began her typical spiel that, when summed up, basically just meant you weren’t a hooker. “Oh, of course not.” The Mayor replied.  

“Wonderful,” Maria smiled and scooted the paperwork across the cherry wood desk towards you and Mayor Barnes. “You will both sign and be under contract. However, Y/N, this is a…unique…situation.” All you could do was gulp. “Mayor Barnes may be your client, but to clear up any confusion, you will not be her escort.”

“O-Ok.” You nodded slightly, waiting for the kicker.

“You will be her son’s.”

Your jaw dropped despite your best efforts to remain composed. Her son. Infamous, sexy-as-hell, playboy James Barnes, who couldn’t manage to stay out of the tabloids for a quick second. Why he would suddenly want a girl like you when women fell at his feet was the most confusing part of this. Well no, the most confusing part was that his mother was the one hiring you.

“You will take on the role of Mr. Barnes’s woman.” Ok, you thought, typical job. “But there is another condition that I have assured the Mayor will be no problem for you.”

You glanced at the Mayor who was looking at you with a sweet, genuine smile; like she was already prepared to accept you into the family. Clearly, this was a well-drawn out plan.

“Mr. Barnes has not been informed about any of this. And the toughest part of this job is that he can never know.”

“I don’t understand.”

The Mayor turned to you a little more, catching your full attention. “Let me explain, dear. My son, as most people can’t help but know, is quite accustomed to putting himself in the spotlight, though it only seems to be negative. He’s been called a number of things. Womanizer, man-whore, troublemaker, a disappointment, but I know my son. He’s just as his father once was; Young and handsome, running around dragging his name through the mud.” You blinked not nearly enough as you listened, and your throat was starting to dry out. Everyone knew of James Barnes and his questionable decisions, but you felt a pang in your heart at the way his mother spit out the names he’d been called by the media. “James is not really like what everyone says. I believe he’s just…lonely. He was so young when I was elected and neither his father nor I could spend much time with him. My own fault, perhaps, but I don’t want my son to keep making these choices. He’s better than this. He’s so handsome and smart and charismatic; he could do great things, but not if he keeps himself on this path. So, what I need from you, my dear, is to become someone James can trust. A fixture in his life, at least for a time. He needs a beautiful woman like you, not these floozies that keep hanging off him. I will have you meet him, accidentally on purpose, and it won’t take much for him to strike up a conversation with you. You are absolutely gorgeous, and James can’t seem to help himself.”

“You want me to be his friend?” You asked. “I thought I was supposed to be his woman, or girlfriend, or something along those lines.”

“I would love if it turned into that, but I recognize that this a job, one that you cannot do forever. I would prefer he not fall in love with you if only to break his heart. I won’t need your services once he turns his act around. I am hoping you can encourage a permanent change.”

“One other thing, Y/N,” Maria began as you digested all the information being thrown at you. “You won’t be taking on any other clients for the duration of this job. It would create some serious problems if the woman in James Barnes’s company was seen with other men. The media would blow up and come to some dangerous conclusions. And before you start worrying about how to pay your bills with only one client at a time, the Mayor is prepared to offer you triple your normal rate.”

Triple, you thought. Somehow that made you feel guilty. You already felt bad about this type of job. You were going to be deep in a lie that would last longer than an afternoon. A lie that could potentially hurt someone when your time was up, and the thought of Mr. Barnes learning who you really were made your stomach turn. No one in their right mind would swallow that discovery with an accepting smile.

But you agreed; Not that you had a choice. You signed the contract and Maria gave the Mayor your work number so she could contact you to let you know when and where to show up so you could conveniently run right into James Barnes.

———————————————————–

For the first time, you were nervous. James Barnes’s face has been splashed all over every magazine and stupid celebrity TV program for months, and you couldn’t deny how insanely attractive he was. He was rugged and beautiful at the same time, with a smirk you wanted to kiss and eyes to melt your soul. Not only that, but there was the fact that you would be in the most intense spotlight. While the other men you’ve spent time with were wealthy, they weren’t typically the kind of famous that drew too much attention. Certainly not enough for anyone to remember your face once the job was done. But this was different. A woman by James Barnes’s side for longer than an evening would bring about a nauseating level of attention, but you guessed that’s part of the reason you were getting triple the pay.

You sighed as you plopped down on your couch for the night, stretching your legs out in your comfy sweats and turning on the TV. Flipping through the channels, you immediately stopped when you caught James’s name coming out of some done-up woman’s bright red lips. As she spoke to the camera, she would gesture behind her to the large screen with James’s picture on it, his hand clearly on some random model’s ass. His new toy.

Finally looking away from his face, you focused on what the host was saying about him. “James Barnes, notorious, sexy bad boy and ladies’ man, caught seen with his newest fling, model and actress, Svetlana Antonov. Will this last? If you ask us, she’ll be gone by the end of the week. But who will be next?”

With a groan you clicked off the TV and tossed the remote to the side. “Vultures,” You mumbled. And then, suddenly, you wondered what would be said about you.

——————————————————————

Mayor Barnes, or Winnifred, as she preferred you now call her considering your new ‘personal relationship,’ phoned you no more than two days later. What you hoped would be something simple, like a coffee shop interaction or running into James on the street was, in reality, much more extravagant. The Mayor’s annual summer fundraiser ball. Only the best of the best A-list celebrities, financiers, and hotel heiress’ where invited; People who could donate a significant chunk of change in return for a reputation boost. This is where you would meet James Barnes.

Winnifred had sent over a deep blue Oscar de la Renta gown that had small diamonds speckled around the fabric making it look like the sky on a clear night, with a flowy-ness that when you walked gave the illusion of a refreshing breeze following your steps. There were also matching drop earrings and subtle, silver heels.

You felt amazing in the dress. Not like a princess, but a queen. Thankfully though, you were permitted to do your own hair and makeup. You let your hair tumble over your shoulders and kept your makeup delicate but glamorous enough to match the high quality of the gown.

You looked at your phone, quickly checking the time before slipping it into your clutch. Ready or not, it was time for you to go.

———————————————————————–

To your surprise, Winnifred also sent a limo to escort you. A note sat on the seat cushion that read ‘you couldn’t possibly arrive at the most exclusive event of the year in a cab,’ signed with a cursive ‘Winnie’ in the bottom right corner. You supposed she was right; it would look odd. This way you wouldn’t stand out negatively.

Inside, you gasped at the grandness of the ballroom. Not only was it nothing you had ever seen before, but it was something you couldn’t even imagine if you tried. It wasn’t what you pictured when told it would be a ball. It was more like a black-tie party in an up-and coming-club. The room was dark, but not too dark, with bluish-purple up-lighting, and private, velvety, plush lounges lining the walls that could be hidden by thin curtains. Some danced to the top 40 hits the DJ was playing, but many, mostly the older men, sat chatting and drinking expensive alcohol as young women, much like yourself, draped themselves over their laps.

You realized you had been to something like this before, but not nearly as nice. You had been the girl a man held at his side like a trophy; told not to speak, but to stand there and look pretty. It was like looking through glass at a piece of your life from a different angle. And it looked pathetic. But you had to push that thought from your mind because you had a job to do; one you had signed a contract for.

Looking around, you had no idea how the hell you were going to find James Barnes. His mother only told you he was wearing a blue suit. Not much help you realized, when you actually began to search.

After thirty frustrating minutes of sifting through bodies, you decided you needed a drink, and once you reached the bar, you figured maybe James would be the one to accidentally find you. What is that thing people say? Once you stop looking for a man, a man will come to you, or something like that. You hoped that was the case because you were sick of looking. So instead, you sipped your wine and people-watched.

After some time, you realized you probably looked like an uncomfortable wallflower. You started to explore around a little more, but with your gaze distracted, not watching where you were going, you slammed your shoulder against another’s and your wine glass fell from your hand. The dark liquid splashed all over the floor, and though no one heard the glass shatter over the music, the woman whose white dress was now stained with little red droplets certainly did.

“You LITTLE tramp!” She screamed over the music. “Look what you did!”

Before you could even apologize, the woman shoved you back with a growl and murder in her dark, brown eyes. She looked familiar and a second later you recognized her as Svetlana Antonov: model, actress, and James Barnes’s latest fling. And then…

“Babe, c’mon. It was an accident.” James Barnes. He looked down at the dress with a little chuckle. “It’s no big deal,” He said. “You have twenty of these designer things.”

When he looked up he met your eyes, and while you thought you saw his breath hitch, yours certainly did. Magazines and TV didn’t do him justice. “I-I’m sorry.”

James licked his lip as he stared at your own, then you blushed as the blue-grey irises trailed down to the curve of your throat and back up to your eyes. “Don’t worry about it.”

“James!” Svetlana shrieked, and for the first time you noticed how heavy her Russian accent was. When he didn’t glance her way at her outburst, the model/actress/fling stomped away, muttering curses in her native tongue.

You wanted to stay and talk, but his presence had somehow stunned you into silence. Then you remembered something his mother told you over the phone: ‘Play a little hard to get. James could use a challenge.’

“Well, it was nice to meet you,” You smiled your sweetest smile that held a dash of sexiness. “I should probably go—”

“We haven’t yet.” He said, effectively cutting you off.

“I’m sorry?”

“We haven’t met yet.”

Your lips formed an ‘O.’ For whatever reason, you didn’t expect a comeback. “I’m James.” He reached out and took your hand in his rough yet warm one, then placed a kiss on your skin. “You can call me Bucky.”

You pulled your hand back and said a simple ‘Ok’ in response to his forwardness. He chuckled.

“And you are?”

You took a step back, smiled again, and cutely cocked your head to the side. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about it. I doubt we will be seeing each other again.” Then, you sauntered off, leaving James ‘Bucky’ Barnes speechless where he stood.

 ————————————————————————

At two in the morning, you were done. Your exhaustion had hit a new level and all you wanted was a hot bath and your warm bed, but you still had one trick up your sleeve that you hoped would peak James’s curiosity about you just a little more.

Some guests had left making it easier to hunt down your target. The second you actually began to look, you saw him causally leaning against the bar as he sipped a whiskey, staring at you like it was all he had done since you ran into him earlier. You kept eye contact long enough for him to smirk seductively. But, instead of going over to him like you knew he expected, you kept walking to the exit.

You didn’t see James’s smirk drop. You didn’t see him slam his whiskey glass down and quickly tip the bartender. And you didn’t see him trailing after you, but you knew he was. Because despite how he made your pulse increase to dangerous levels, you were good at your job, and his handsome face and charming smile wasn’t going to change that.

“Hey, wait!” You heard behind you. ‘Right on time,’ You thought, but you kept walking until a familiar warm hand wrapped itself around your upper arm and spun you around. “Wait.”

He was breathing a bit heavy and you made sure to bat your lashes in the moment where silence was between you. “Hello, old friend.”

He kept hold of you, darting his eyes over every feature of your face. “Friend’s know each other’s names.”

“What?” you gasped jokingly, your eyes widening along with the act. “Who told you that?”

His eyes narrowed and he inched his face closer to yours. “My other friends.”

“Oh, well, you and I have very different customs.”

James released your arms and crossed his own over a broad chest. “You’re really not going to tell me your name?”

“Is there some kind of law that requires I do, James?”

“Bucky.”

“James.”

“Bucky.” He stressed.

You sighed. “Fine…Bucky. I don’t see why you could possibly need my name.”

“How else am I going to see you again if I don’t at least have your name so I can track you down?”

You hummed in thought. “Don’t you already have a woman whose name you know? The model?”

“She’s not my girlfriend if that’s what your implying.”

“I wouldn’t care if she was.”

“You sure about that?” He asked, his lips quirking.

“Yes, I am…Bucky.” You chuckled. “Anyway, I should go. Early morning.” But, as you turned, he grabbed you again, this time your hand.

“Please.” He said to your back.

You smirked to yourself, knowing you had won for the night, then faced him again. The pleading look in his eyes almost broke your resolve.

“Y/N.” You said.

James smiled in victory. “Last name, too, sweetheart. I need both to find you.”

You rolled your eyes with a small grin. “Y/L/N. Happy now?”

“Very.”

Then, he let your hand go and watched as you left out the front doors.

tags: @dugan365​ @moonlightimagination​ @pietrotheavenger​ @marvel-fanfiction​ @hawkeyeharrington​ @dani-si​ @alyssiamking @wintersoldier98​ @then-there-was-me-emily​ @prxttybirdz​ @tessvillegas @xceafh​ @jazzwoman897​ @fandoms-who​ @meganwinchester1999​ @ufffg​ @debra77​ @rebelliouscat​ @anise-d-castle6​ @projectxhappiness​ @buckybarnesappreciationsociety​ @lowkeysebby​ @stringgeek13​ @quotemeow @notmyfault404​ @jjamesbbarness​ @stangirl4eva​ @guera31​ @sophiatomlinson23​ @thisismysecrethappyplace​ @hiddles-rose​ @vibhati123 @mywinterwolf​ @picapicapicassobaby​ @lokilvrr​ 

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[ill-skillsgard]

Smoke & Money, Part 3 - Bill Skarsgård

Title: Smoke & Money

Warning: 100% NSFW, some drug use, swearing, sex/fetish/kink type situations

Description: A young sex worker gets tangled in the dangerous web of a wealthy entrepreneur whose tastes push her past all of her known limits.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

There was this guy that I met and he was interested in me. I could tell immediately. He had a fast car and an expensive suit on. He was a little on the shorter side with a buzz cut to hide his receding hairline and a chin-strap to make up for it. By the looks of him, he may have been of Italian descent. Not that I cared all that much when he opened his wallet and showed me a stack of hundreds. He wanted to go out for a night with me as his date. At first, he offered me five hundred but I told him to double it for the night if I was acting as a date. He wanted the full escort services. It had been a long time since I had gone clubbing and even longer since I had escorted. Some guys wanted to strut around like peacocks and not just get their dicks sucked in a parked car. So whatever, I thought, I'll go to a fancy club with this guy and have my drinks paid for and come away with another grand in my pocket, at the very least. Usually, these types wanted to stay up all night hauling rails of cocaine and trying to balance it out by choking down male performance enhancers that you could buy at sex shops. Again, whatever. As long as I got paid. I wasn't personally a fan of getting all wigged out on drugs normally but I did like a drink here and there and I could be a fun time, even without narcotics. I also liked to get dolled up so the whole club scenario felt like a breath of fresh air to me.

As I stood in front of my mirror doing my make up I couldn't help but think about Mr. Skarsgard. I hated that I referred to him like that but I still didn't know his first name and by the way he had growled at me the last time, I was afraid to ever speak out of line with him. He looked so young but he carried himself so proudly that it was hard to pinpoint his age. The plague of questions still swirled in my gut once in a while. If he was so rich and so handsome, why was he paying women to be his little service maids? The man was an enigma to me, so dark and quiet, like the beginning of a storm, when the world seems to stand perfectly still inside a din of impending chaos. What was to come? I could not be sure. All I could do was watch the skies.

The club we went to was obnoxiously upscale in decor but noticeably Spring Break in clientèle. Even though the men were suited and the women all wore stilettos, they were all yelling and dancing and drinking and many pairs of eyes were blown-out dilated. I accompanied my John to different corners and levels of the clubs, drink in hand, swagger in my step and alertness that I did not give way to so that he could find his buddies and most certainly show me off. The dress I wore was a backless, low-cut silky shawl of a drape that only really covered my ass and pussy because it tapered down into a pencil skirt. I too wore stilettos.I had on this little number, impossibly high-heeled shoes and a gold sequined clutch that contained my phone, my ID, and my money. I drank with him and laughed with him and stole glances with his more attractive friend. It was a standard night at the club. Blow was snorted off of inch-long acrylic nails, martini glasses speckled any table surface and the music pumped so loud that it was impossible to have a real conversation. To be honest I was kind of having fun at the club even if my client was a greasy little guido with too much Hugo Boss cologne on. "Hey sweetheart," he yelled into my ear. "Take this and go use those tits to order everyone a shot." "Yeah, sure. How many?" I asked him. "Like ten. Who needs a shot!?" I had been seated at a table with a few guys who all fit the same profile as my client and a few girls. I wasn't sure who was a girlfriend and who was an escort but I didn't really care. He had just put two hundred dollars in the palm of my hand. He must have been really messed up and having too good of a time to care about the money spent. I don't think anybody in the establishment cared how much money they were spending. They were all kids with rich parents. Boy how I loved kids with rich parents. Through all of the writhing bodies and slamming bass, I made my way to a bar and posted up on it for a moment to collect my thoughts. I opened my clutch and put the hundred dollar bills inside for safe-keeping. Most of the night I had been neglecting my cell phone so I figured it a good time to check it. As soon as the screen came on I saw there had been a missed call from a few minutes prior. "Shit..." I said to myself. Oh well, unknown number. The bartender was on the complete opposite end of the bar and I knew it would be a while before she worked her way down to me. After all, straight women bartenders tended to favor serving the men first for better tips. That was alright with me though because I knew that hustle far too well. So I waited for my turn like a proper patron. Then my cell phone started vibrating in my hand. There was no way I could take the call amidst all of the noise but it was the same number that I had just missed. My heart skipped a beat or two.

I shoved my clutch underneath my arm and made for the bathroom, the only semi-quiet place that I could think of to take a call.  Luckily for me, the only people occupying the stalls were chicks peeing and doing cocaine together. I took the last stall, shut the door and locked it behind me, cell phone in hand.

There was no way I could wait for the number to call again so I decided to call it back which was something I usually didn't do.

It rang and rang and rang for what felt like forever until finally, somebody picked up. "Hello?" I asked when nobody said a thing. "Yeah." "Hi... Who is this? I have a missed call from this number." "Two missed calls." The voice said. I chuckled nervously, "Oh, yeah. Um, so just returning the call." "I appreciate it." "Sorry, who is this?" "Bill... Skarsgard." "Oh." "I'm sending a car for you." My mouth hung open as I scrabbled for something to say. "No, I... I can't. Not tonight." "J... Don't make me tell you twice." "I'm not..." I paused to grind my teeth. "I'm not at home." "Where are you?" With a sigh, I relented, "The Revive Downtown." "He'll be there soon." "Uh... Okay." I hung up the phone and let out a long breath. Shit. Dropping my phone back into my clutch, I left the bathroom in search of my client whose name I forgot. I had to wiggle my way through troops of people dancing before I reached the table that I'd just left. "Where the drinks at?" He asked. I grabbed his hand and gave him back the two hundred dollars. He looked down at the money with confusion written on his shiny face. "I have to go." "What?" He yelled, unable to hear me above all of the electronic discord. He got the hint when I stood to leave. "Sorry, I have to go!" "Wait what the fuck? You can't leave." He stood up as well, much to the surprise of his friends. I held up the free hand that wasn't clutching my bag tightly to my body. "It's an emergency, I'm so sorry!" "No, no, no! I want my money back, bitch!" "I'm sorry! That's not going to happen! Sorry... I have to go!" With that, I turned to walk away quickly towards the exit. My ditched client had other plans and once I was outside I could finally hear properly. There were people all over the street, cars driving by, pulling up and honking and then someone grabbed my arm tightly. "Hey! Don't you fucking walk away from me." I had been followed outside by my client who was obviously pissed. The exclamation was enough to grab the attention of anyone who was standing in line as well as the bouncer who turned his attention toward us but didn't move from his post. "Give me my money back you fucking whore." I flinched away from him, throwing my arms up in front of my face as my first reaction. What I anticipated was for him to come at me, but that was interrupted immediately. "Step the fuck back right now buddy. You don't want to try it." My savior said rather calmly. It was Mr. Skarsgård's driver who had gotten in between us. The guido stepped away, fists clenched, his buddies had come out too and also didn't know how to react. "Your fucking whore stole my money!" The driver took a step closer, towering over the angry client with a trained poise. There was no way he would attempt to throw down with the driver who had a foot on him and none of his friends seemed up to the challenge either. "You better watch your mouth, kid," the driver warned. "You," he then pointed at me. "Get in the car... now." I didn't wait for him to open the door for me and simply flung it open myself, threw my clutch into the back and got in. There was hardly anymore exchange before the driver shook his jacket and came back to the car. It was strange that I felt safe inside the BMW but I did and that's all I really cared about. My friends had told me I should have a bodyguard for situations like these but I had put it off for the simple fact that I couldn't afford to pay a guy to stave off asshole clients. Also, I hadn't done anything to get myself into violent situations either. This was all sorts of unlike me. I had never bounced on a client before. What I was doing for Skarsgård went against almost everything I had learned. It was just common courtesy to not walk out on a client, especially if you had been paid beforehand. This was going to get me into a lot of trouble. The driver got into the car and quickly pulled away from the scene. I watched his tense face relax gradually the further we drove from the club. After a minute or two of driving, he looked in the rearview mirror, matching my stare. "I'm sorry you had to do that," I said to him. "You don't have any protection?" Ashamed, I shook my head no. "You should, doing what you do." Glancing out the window at the passing streets I sighed, "I know." That was the only exchange we had for the rest of the way there. Each minute that passed I got more and more nervous. My imagination ran wild thinking of all of the possible scenarios that I was potentially putting myself into. I started shivering, perhaps because I was wearing almost nothing or maybe from fear of what I was walking into.

In my ridiculously high heels, I clopped up the steps behind the driver who had left the car running just to let me inside the house. I thought it was appropriate of him and I longed to thank him more for stepping in to defend me but I didn't think he wanted to hear any more of it. Instead, I walked right into the foyer. The lights were on this time and it took me a moment to adjust. A bright light was thrown into all corners of the massive hall by the crystal chandelier that hung down like a glittering, silver jellyfish. The paintings were illuminated enough to make out the finer details. But before I could wander in further a voice cleared at the top of the stairs. "Well... A little under-dressed?" I looked up and saw him leaning against the banister, one leg bent and one straight. His white button-up was open and I could see his deep collarbone. Although he looked a little more disheveled than I was used to, he still had his shirt tucked into his straight-fitting black trousers and shiny brown oxford shoes on. He looked to be a mile away by how tall he stood at the top staring down at me with what I thought could have been a mixture of disdain and surprise. "I was out dancing," I called up to him. He nodded his head and never took his stare off of me even if I shied away from the constant eye contact. "Get upstairs. Now." After his unyielding order, he turned and left down the East Wing hall. The echo of his footfalls beckoned me up the stairs. Before I started I grimaced at having to ascend so many stairs in such ridiculous shoes. However determined I was, I couldn't help but let myself take a short breather after clearing all of them one by meticulous one so as to not stumble on the thick carpet. He hadn't gone into his room, he was waiting right at the door. I tried to compose myself and walked towards him with confidence and not like my knees were about to give in. I wondered if he could tell how terrible I was at walking in stilettos. "Go." His voice was like blunt force trauma to my ears. I entered the room which had come alive by the light of candles and the lamp beside the bed.

Bill closed the door behind us with an antique thud and circled me like a predator, never taking his eyes off of me. I felt naked even though I wasn't. His eyes burned so vehemently but his mouth was relaxed and he could almost undress me with the intensity of that stare. Finally, I could see his face, really see it under the glow of the candles and lamps. He was this hybrid of a boy, innocence was woven into every cell of his pale skin and undeniable confidence of a well-dressed, well-paid man, as sinister as he was striking. He had it all in that moment; money, power, and beauty. Something told me he could get away with anything even without the money and the power. Those good looks alone could make a girl do a lot.

That's precisely how he made me feel as he walked towards me, taking his hands from his trouser pockets to grasp my chin, forcing me to stare back at him. "What you did tonight was wrong and I'm very disappointed." He said. "I'm sorry." "Well... you have the rest of the night to atone for making me angry, isn't that right?" "Yes, sir." His eyes were wide and searching, flicking back and forth as he bore into my own eyes. "I thought we had an understanding?" "We do, sir." Bill stepped back and let his eyes fall down my body, taking in every inch of me. Judging me or simply observing, it was hard to tell. This man was hard to read. "Apparently I didn't make myself clear enough." I swallowed. He continued. "You are mine and only mine. You belong to me. You are my fucking property and I do not share." "You don't have to, sir"" "Oh is that right? Then who are you all dressed up for, hm?" "Nobody." "You mean to tell me this little ensemble wasn't meant for anyone? I find that hard to believe. I don't pay you to traipse around the city looking like a ten-dollar hooker for other people." There were so many things I wanted to say but I chose to remain silent as he continued to circle me. "Go to the bed rail." He pointed towards the prodigious canopy bed that was hampered with pillows. I walked past him and stopped at the foot of the bed. He did not watch me but rather went to the other side of the room and dragged a plush wing-back chair to the center of the carpet. With a look of complete absorption on his face, he approached me from behind as though I were just another object in his room. "Bend over." He murmured. I did as I was told and bent over the wooden rail at the foot of his enormous bed. I wasn't sure what to do with my arms so I splayed my hands out on the soft duvet and waited for what was to come next. His hand touched my lower back and pushed down. "Further," he said. Lower I went, arching my back and the more I did so the more my dress pulled up in the back. He could most certainly see my ass as I could feel cool air touching my skin. That big hand ran down the base of my spine and over my exposed skin. Slowly he inserted a finger underneath the scant little strap of my thong, pulling it up. The sensation of the material pulling taut against my most sensitive parts was enough to make me weak in the knees, or perhaps it was my shoes. Nevertheless, it didn't feel unwelcome, simply disgracious in a way that made me feel dirty. "You never make me wait. I do not wait for you. You wait for me." "Yes." "Yes, what?" "Yes, sir." Without letting go of my underwear he used his other hand to push me down further over the rail so that I was completely on display for him. My fear was that he would penetrate me but in those deliciously sickening moments, I didn't have the courage to bring up my rules. I simply did not allow clients to fuck me without a condom. Even the cleanest of men were no exception. My heart began to race thinking of every possibility that could go down. What would I do if he tried? Did I have it in me to freak out, push him away and end it all? Would I allow him to enter me? My head felt so foggy that I honestly couldn't tell how to react. All I knew was that his long fingers were tickling my skin and I could feel the heat of arousal stirring inside of me. Then he wound up and spanked me so hard a shockwave of sting interrupted my entire thought process. I gasped and looked back at him but he was calm, collected and close to me with his hands on my backside once more, rubbing the skin where he had just laid a fiery handprint. "Don't you ever keep me waiting again, understand?" I sucked in my bottom lip and nodded. "You are mine. You are my fucking property," he repeated himself. "Do not test me." "Yes, sir." "You fuck up and misbehave and now..." He leaned over my body bringing his lips close to my ear, hand never leaving my ass cheek. "Now you need punishment." That was the only warning he gave before spanking me again in the same spot. It stung so bad but I gritted my teeth and handled it not unflinchingly but as best as I could to keep from squealing. The prickling heat made me wince in pain. As if to alleviate the suffering he switched to the other cheek and gave me a whack for balance. Not once did he let go of my thong. He pulled it up, rubbed his hand over where the tiny triangle of fabric covered me and smacked me again. This time I couldn't help but let a sound slip from my mouth. "Oh yes, I know it hurts but this is what happens when you defy me. Isn't that right?" I nodded vigorously in hopes my submission would earn me some sympathy. It did not, and he wound up, cranking me really good on the right so hard that my legs faltered. If he wasn't there to keep me standing I would have buckled to the floor. Sweat broke on my forehead and my muscles clenched tightly. The funny part of it all was that I wasn't even tied up. I could have easily turned around and left. I could have refused this punishment. Hell, I could have refused him back at the club and I would have been well on my way to being drunk on top shelf liquor but instead, I was here, bent over a hand-carved wooden rail getting my ass handed to me by this rich, authoritarian man who I knew nothing about. 

The only solace my burning skin took was when he leaned over and spit on my bare ass cheeks and smeared it around with his thumbs. I sighed and I'm sure he noticed my relief by the way my spine relaxed. The sustenance was short-lived though. He lowered himself on one knee, proposing to my backside with both hands squeezing, spreading me open and then giving me a few swift belts using his hands as a paddle. By then my dress had risen far over my hips and I had never been more exposed to him before than I was at that moment. His punishment started to awaken a small, provocative tingle that didn't take long to sprout into something that coveted the rain of his foul play upon me. I soon forgot how my ankles were starting to ache, having been propped up on five inches of poniard for hours. The loud claps of his hand against my rear were enough to mask my tiny, shivering moans. He threaded his fingers through my hair and pulled my head back, allowing me to straighten. His other hand came up my neck and gripped my chin, forcing me to look at him, puppeteering my head to bring his lips to the crest of my cheekbone. His breath was hot, sweetened with bourbon and the scent of the cigarettes he smoked. When he pushed his hips into me I could feel how hard he had gotten and I gasped. What was he planning on doing to me? I knew that if I was subjected to anymore spanking it would cross the threshold into nothing but pain with a tearful lack of any pleasure. I didn't want it again but I did want something from him. What I wanted was so unreal and unwise. "Say you're mine." He hissed at me before licking my cheek all the to my gaping mouth. "Say it." What felt like a venomous snake wrapping around me tightly was really the erection he had pressed against my side. If he hadn't have been fully clothed I would have felt a lot more threatened but there was still this perception of a loaded gun. At the moment I truly felt the words leave my mouth. "I'm yours, I'm yours." "That's right, you are." He squeezed my cheeks between his fingers. "Now... Show me your tongue." I opened my mouth modestly and he gave me a quick nip of a kiss, all tongue-on-tongue contact. He drew back only to spit into my mouth and repeat himself. His nasty little game of sucking face made me long for more intimate contact. If he'd have used that loaded gun on me, I would have dropped to my knees in front of him. Without a second thought, he pushed me back over the wooden rail and left me there which was a better alternative to another round of spanking. But I was curious about where he was going until I heard the dull whine of the chair accepting his weight and the jingle of a belt coming undone. I dared a look behind me to see what he was doing. "Turn back around, now." I snapped back into place facing the expanse of bed before me. The candles cast flickering shadows across the black sea of opulent silk and behind me a man was beginning to jack off, watching my damp and reddened ass from a chair that cost more than most people's whole bedroom sets. I wanted to look back but I didn't, lest I cause him any more reason to lash out at me. Somehow I did feel bad for having denied him for anyone else and as I listened to the sound of him stroking his cock behind me, I wanted even more to please him. His breathing was audible and the jingling of his belt only got louder as he went. His breathing was fragmented into nearly inaudible grunts to sounds of him panting. Fuck, I wanted to watch. It wasn't long until a silence of about two minutes fell before he stood up and walked towards me slowly. Each footstep made my blood pump faster. This time, instead of a smack on my ass I felt a stickiness being spread all over my rosy skin. He smeared me with his cum, rubbing it into my flesh like lotion, over my panties and down the backs of my thighs. He made a real show of it, even going as far as to rub his hand over my clothed pussy just once. "Stay right there." He ordered. He and I both knew that I would not go against his word but once he did up his pants and left the room I chanced a looked around. The chair behind me seemed like a mundane object and not where he had just been sitting, staring at me, running his hand over his cock until he came. I wasn't cemented to the bed rail. I wasn't about to get fucked raw. Everything about this was different to me. It was hard to peg every man but this guy went against anything I had expected. He was nothing like the rest of them. He was unpredictable and that was what scared me about him. Was this play or was this humorless in his eyes? I looked over at the brass plate and bristled at the wad of cash that had been there seemingly all along. Would he take it as a slight if I left it there? Of course, he would, I thought. It wouldn't be there if I wasn't supposed to take it. Minutes passed before I heard him coming up the corridor. I had pulled down the skirt of my dress over the drying mess he had left on me and picked up my clutch once more. When he came back to the door he had a lit cigarette between two fingers. "There will be a cab waiting outside to take you home." I nodded at him, unable to open my mouth to actually say anything. He took a long haul off the end of his cigarette, leaning and swaying against the door. "Did you learn your lesson tonight?" "Yes, sir," I replied, feeling meek. "Good girl."After that, he left me to show myself out.

#bill skarsgård fanfiction #bill skarsgard fanfiction #bill skarsgård smut #bill skarsgard smut #fanfiction

[magioftheseas]

Day 1 - Reserve

Written for @the-hinata-project 

Prompt: Reserve Course Student Hinata

Rating: G

Warnings: Lowkey manipulation and insecurity, but other than that, not much.

Notes: Alright, so I’m still in the middle of these, but like... Here’s the first one! They’re all going to be pretty short, around 2K but I’m gonna do my best to finish all of them so wish me luck...! And this first fic is gen. No ships. Next ones won’t be so gen. It’s also pre-HPA. Kind of.

***Alternate Ao3 Link***

Commission? Donate?

The last wish he made on New Year’s was a simple one.

I want to get into Hope’s Peak.

But of course that  would never happen.

“Can’t you dream more realistically, Hajime? Do you have any idea how expensive Hope’s Peak actually is? We can’t afford that.”

“I... I know that, but...”

“If you know then why are you burdening us with this? Please. Just think about other people besides yourself for once.”

“...sorry.”

His mother sighs, but ruffles his hair in a show of affection.

“You current high school isn’t so bad, right? You can make good friends here, and it’s a fine school.”

“I guess it’s...decent,” he mumbles.

“Just don’t even worry about Hope’s Peak anymore,” she tells him. “It’s impossible, and it can’t be helped. Keep your chin up. Okay?”

“...fine...”

Because he knew, after all, that she had a point. They couldn’t afford it. And he wasn’t talented. It was a pipe dream to attend. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Still...

--

For his birthday, he was given a new laptop to replace the old. It was a fairly recent model. Pretty expensive. Likely compensation. He can’t say he didn’t like it.

He wasn’t ungrateful. He doesn’t think so.

It’s just that I admire Hope’s Peak more than anything.

So much so that he finds himself on the forums first thing.

>Does anyone have any idea who’s going to be in the upcoming batch?

>They haven’t finished scouting, right? Oh, but I just saw on the news that an actual princess was accepted! Hope’s Peak really can get in anyone!

>Wow, actual royalty?!

>There’s this photographer I follow. She’s getting in, too, I’m pretty sure.

>I just saw Saionji Hiyoko-san’s performance last week. I’m positive she’s getting in.

>I’m more interested in the princess. Can you imagine how lucky it would be to meet an actual princess?

>>They’ll be running the lottery in a month or so. What I would give to have more of a chance...

>Wow, they’re doing that again?

>With how much getting into the reserve course costs, you probably have a better chance with the lottery...

>But if you win the lottery, you’re actually considered talented. Reserves are just...y’know, reserves.

>But you’ll get to meet the princess, potentially. I think the money’s worth it, even if all I can do is steal a glance!

>Still... Seems so lame that you can just pay your way in...

>But brand name recognition is pretty powerful...

>>I heard you can actually get into the main course from the reserve course if you do well enough.

>No way! That’s a pipe dream! Maybe if you paid like, twice as much!

>Must be nice to be rich, huh...

Hinata stares, wondering what to type, but also letting the thoughts swirl around in his head.

>>I would do anything to get into Hope’s Peak. But my family just can’t afford that.

>Yeah, mine neither. Who actually can?

>You’d be surprised... They’re getting a lot of enrollments.

>You can’t like...get a scholarship or anything? It’s not like you need to go to college after attending Hope’s Peak.

>Well the golden gates can’t open that wide, I suppose...

>It’s for the best. If just about anyone could get in, it wouldn’t be that special.

Hinata bites his lip, picking at the peeling skin with his teeth.

>>Still. I want to get in more than anything.

>If you aren’t talented, it can’t be helped.

>>I would give anything.

>Pffft. No kidding. I’d give an arm and a leg, probably.

>>I would give anything.

>A lot of people would.

>You’re like a super fan, huh. Well, I am, too, but still...

>>Getting into Hope’s Peak has always been my dream.

>Everyone wants to be special, man.

>But if everyone was special then no one would be special.

>It can’t be helped. You’re either born talented or you aren’t.

>Right?! I must have spent hours drawing but there was always that one person I could just never compare to. It’s hopeless!

>You shouldn’t say hopeless on the Hope’s Peak forums!

>Haha, sorry!

>>I’ve never been talented. There’s not one thing I’m particularly good at.

>Normie...

>>But I want to get into Hope’s Peak Academy... More than anything.

>Give it up. For your own good. Wishing for the impossible isn’t healthy.

>Hey, don’t tell him that! What if he ends up winning the lottery?

>Yeah, right!

>>I’m not particularly lucky, either.

>Luck’s not a talent anyway.

>Are you sure? I’ve known people who get ridiculously lucky while gambling...

>If they gamble too much, that luck’s bound to run out. And I bet they’re not that lucky, they just brag a lot.

>That might be true... Still it would be nice just to get into Hope’s Peak by chance...

>Whoever wins that lottery probably is ridiculously lucky considering how many people are participating. We’re talking like, every high school student in their first year in the country.

>Sucks to be other countries, huh.

>Maybe someday but for now, I like not having that much competition.

>Still a ridiculous amount competing...

>I bet it’ll be someone who can afford the reserve course if they haven’t already enrolled.

>No fair! That kind of thing should disqualify you immediately!

>>I just...want to get in...

>Yeah we all do. But it’s impossible.

>Impossible.

>Totally impossible.

>Pigs will fly first.

>I heard some Ultimates actually can make some crazy shit. We might see flying pigs pretty soon.

>That’s terrifying.

>>I just want to get in.

>You should get offline.

He should. He really, really should.

Is it really impossible?

“Of course it is,” he can practically hear them murmur. “Not only are you untalented, you can’t afford it! And you’re going to win the lottery, either!”

Hinata buries his face into his hands, shuddering.

I just... I just...

--

To his surprise, he later receives a DM. Shivering, he clicks it open.

>Would you really do anything for Hope’s Peak?

He doesn’t recognize the name of the sender but...it looks official.

>>Yes. Of course. Why?

>There actually is a program you can sign up for that will get you in without having to pay a coin.

Hinata blinked once. Twice.

It’s way too good to be true.

But he’s desperate. Beyond desperate.

>>What is this program? How can I sign up?

>Here’s the information.

--

What he’s about to do is how people get themselves abducted, he’s pretty sure. But right now, he’s desperate and... If it really was someone associated with Hope’s Peak, how bad can it be? What’s the worse than can happen?

I already have no chance getting in. I know that... But...

His heart was pounding as he took the train. He stared out the window, at HPA’s towering buildings in the distance, getting closer and closer, and he sucks in his breath.

It’s so shining that it hurts to look at.

Shining like a dream...

--

“Ah, Hinata-kun, you made it after all. So you have the necessary information?”

“Uh... Yes...” Truth be told, he didn’t understand most of it. There were a lot of words that were hard to read and pretty...advanced. “I just...well you said you couldn’t explain everything in just files, so...”

The other looked pretty professional. Sharply dressed and smiling in a way that at least seemed pretty welcoming. But...still pretty intimidating, considering the circumstances. Hinata ducked his head, feeling rather flustered.

“Yes, it’s meant to be kept very tightly under wraps, you see,” they laugh. “I need to assure confidentiality before explaining, Hinata-kun. Surely you understand.”

That’s...weird.

But it made his blood thrum with excitement to be a part of.

“I... Y-Yes, of course. Absolutely... Of course...”

“Sign this form, then, promising that.”

“O-Of course...!”

He scribbles down his signature without a second thought. The other smiled more, pleased. Hinata squirmed in his seat, and tried to keep his posture straight.

With that, the other sat across from him, polite and yet...expectant.

Ah... Hah...

“So you’re willing to do anything for this school,” they say, voice almost light but also dense with significance. “Might I ask why?”

“It’s...as I said on the forums,” Hinata mumbles, fiddling with his tie. Even dressed professionally for this would-be interview, he feels underdressed. “I’ve always admired this school. Always. It’s always been my dream to...to go there...”

The other nods, expression unchanged.

“And why do you wish so badly to go there, despite not having a talent that can be cultivated?”

Hinata flinched.

“T-That’s...! I...” He hesitates, but he soon finds the words just spilling out. “I just want to be someone I can be proud of. Someone who can stand tall. Be confident. Be significant. Isn’t that what I deserve?”

“Isn’t that what everyone deserves?”

Hinata’s nails dig into his palms.

“I admire Hope’s Peak...more than anyone. I will give whatever I can...and then more than that...if I have to.” His teeth grit. “Whatever it takes... W-Whatever it takes...!”

Even though I know it’s selfish and impossible, I just...!

He just wanted to be someone. Someone other than...this.

Unimportant. Unremarkable. A faceless, meaningless part of the mass. The idea of being consumed by mediocrity and insignificance for the rest of his life, never to matter, never to even be remembered, just to disappear, just like he never even existed—

“I’ll do...w-whatever...it takes...” He’s shaking, eyes wide and crazed. “Whatever it takes... Whatever I can...and then more than that...if I have to.”

“Ah. I see.” An easy smile. And yet, the atmosphere felt so heavy that it was near suffocating. “Very well then, Hinata-kun. That’s exactly the kind of attitude we’re looking for.”

Hinata lit up.

“R-Really?” He dares to let hope slip into his tone. “D-Do you really mean it?”

A nod.

“Hinata-kun... If you could be reborn from the faceless body of a miserable nobody into the world’s hope... Would you?”

“That...sounds too good to be true...” His heart really was racing, but he was flushed with excitement. “But... Y-Yeah... I... Of course...”

“Then, allow me to tell you about how that can be possible. If you agree, you’ll be accepted into the school, free of charge, no talent necessary. In fact, it’s even essential that you be talentless.”

I...don’t understand.

He doesn’t understand but it just sounds so incredible that he can’t help but be swayed.

“...tell me.”

“Very well.”

A folder of files is placed before him. They look too important to grasp. And the stamped out letters of CONFIDENTIAL stare back into his wide-eyed, shimmering gaze.

Fingers trembling, Hinata actually slices his finger open as he flips it open.

He doesn’t even feel the sting, as engrossed as he is in the text.

“I...”

The words swirl around in his head, over and over until he drowns in them.

“Do you need time to think about it?” the other asks him kindly. So kindly that Hinata is struck cold. “Tell you what... You can still get into the reserve course. You don’t have to say yes right away, and the deadline will be in a few months from now. You can attend classes here until then...and then make your decision on whether or not you’re willing to stay. Okay?”

“I... O-Okay.” Hinata swallows. “That’s... I’m okay with that.”

I said I’d do anything. And I do...want to do anything. But...

His hands are shaking while still gripping the files.

I can’t...let this chance slip by...even if it’s something like this. This is everything I ever wanted. Why am I even hesitating?

“It’s alright,” the other says reassuringly, taking the files away with ease. “Hinata-kun, I know you’ll make the best decision for yourself.”

For...myself. Myself...

“I...yes.”

“I’ll have them send in your acceptance letter and uniform.” His hand is shook, the grip warm and calloused. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Hinata-kun.”

“A-A pleasure... Yeah.”

Just like that, Hinata was stumbling out of Hope’s Peak, trembling and falling to pieces with every shaky step.

I have to do it, he can’t help but think. I have to do it, for...for myself...

This was going to be the year his life changed irreparably. He was sure of it.

#thehinataproject #hajime hinata #hinata hajime #Magi fics #the hinata project #although it's not going to show up #I might as well #I'll probably have to message someone anyway #The tragedy of being muted

[fakesurprise]

Arrangements & Threats

It was two days before I was able to return to the Tower. Being part of the government means you are not free, even when it seems otherwise. I could have pressed the issue, but the deal had been struck and Lady Tower was no longer a priority; it wasn’t a battle I felt I needed to have. I did manage to arrange for a portable scanner attached to my right wrist: my senses are more than decent, but they were made for war as much as the rest of me and the scanner could be far more thorough in finding more practical matters, assuming the Lady did not alter the signals.

I took two lifts up, had my ID pinged twice on reaching the upper levels. Everything was run down and scarred when it wasn’t broken. Any war hit the upper levels of a city first, so no one sane lived here if they could avoid it. Which didn’t stop it from being too full of people. I made my way through narrow side roads and what were once transit hubs that now sat empty. No one is rebuilding after the last war; everyone is just hunkering down and waiting for a new one.

I try not to think too hard about that, find the side street where I met the boy and take the route back to the tower the Lady was in. Several streets, rooftops, boards and finally the rope ladder leading up. I subvocalized a commands to the scanner. One inhabitant, according to it, but the Lady could easily fool it from down here. I made my way up, pinged my location to Control, and knocked once on the door.

It could be a trap; I would revolutionize what Lady Tower could do. But even she knows what I do, and the door opened.

To the left was the shower, one of the two fridges, clothing, the mattress. No Lady, no technology, not even a single table left behind. The walls boasted new scorch marks in them that couldn’t have been more than a day old. The boy stood near the mattress, not moving at all. I walked in, the door closing behind me.

“I have a deep scanner on me; I am afraid I must use it.”

The boy hesitated visibly, then nodded once.

No trace of the Lady at all. The boy, though, was a surprise. His left leg had been damaged and regrown at some point, but body definitely bioengineered to be better than human. The electromesh woven into his flesh had been put in far earlier than I’d suspected, and his body was the only reason he had survived the gas attack. Damage to the lungs, a shunt for food and waste where his stomach should be, the false voice box made by the Lady. All the technology was well made, and that not a surprise. The surprise was that one of his kidneys wasn’t.

I double-checked the scan. “Your left kidney: you have a pocket. What is in it?”

The boy’s eyes widened a little. He reached up and touched his throat. “The Lady has done the best she could, but the mesh eventually destroys any voice box,” he said, and this box was an improvement over the one a mere two days ago; I only was certain it was a false voice because of the scan and that I knew it to be so. “I keep spare voice boxes in there.”

He opened it with a wince, closed flesh a moment later over a space that was too big to be normal. I’d know a couple of people with pockets that contained weapons a time or two, but the construction costs were too high to justify it normally.

“Your ID has been tampered with by the Lady.”

The boy nodded.

I continued the scan. He was male, though his reproductive organs were inside his body and dormant. A very rich family, to even do that at all. I turned the scan up to his head, and winced.

“When you told me you sold your eyes, I had assumed it was temporary.”

The boy said nothing; his eyes were eyes, but the cameras installed inside all fed into his brain and to various arrays sending the data elsewhere. Currently the Lady was not receiving them, but the boy wasn’t capable of doing so himself.

“You have a name, I trust?”

“Mello.”

“Stevens.” I walked closer. The boy moved toward me, frowned. “I’m not wearing the battle suit your mesh destroyed.”

“Oh. Right.” He walked closer, ran one hand onto my left arm, then slowly to my face and dropped it. “You have a lot of implants?” “I do. She left you here?”

“She said she can’t do anything more for for my voice, but the government might be able to grow me a real one? And a new stomach?”

“Given your mesh, it would be – expensive, and difficult.”

Mello nodded. “I understand. Would my eyes cover some of that?” So hesitant, those words. “I will need to ask. Wait here?”   He didn’t move as I left and dropped down to another rooftop. I pinged Alder.

He prefers debriefs, but does understand expediency: I dumped the data to him.

“Interesting. The Lady wanting to make certain we never renege on our deal. By proving she does not?” “I think so. The boy is clearly from a family wiped out during one of the wars, but it will take time to learn which one. That the Lady can alter official ID to scramble it means she can falsify. And that others can as well, and she gave that to us.”

“You want to use the boy.”

“If we don’t, others will. Patched into our Array he can be a walking deep scan, though limited. We can’t lose that kind of resource.”

“Anything else?” “Nothing that can’t wait until a debriefing.”

“Heh. I’ll start the approval process. Take him to one of your safe houses; if he is compromised, we can’t afford to lose any other assets beyond you.”

“Understood.” I disconnected and returned. “My boss is working out an approval process. Until then, I’m taking you to a safe house.”

Mello shook his head before I’d even finished speaking. “I’m safe here.”

“No, you aren’t. Not for what we’d have you do. I can’t give you access to the Array without approval; can you tap into Network feeds?”

He nodded. “I can see myself through them, use that, but right now I’m –.” He waved his hands over his head.

“Open. Vulnerable?”

“Outside here, yes.”

“Noted. Stevens. Access?”

Mello was silent over two seconds. “Granted.”

“Disable cameras,” I snapped, and Mello swayed a little. I had access to the entire command structure in him, to an extent. Definitely over the cameras. I wanted to know what had pushed him to a deal like that with anyone, but now wasn’t the time. I grabbed his hands gently, took them to my face.

He ran them over me slowly, and then moved and went over my entire body. Without the cameras, he wasn’t getting much data. Even the ones in his fingers were turned off, and I wasn’t certain what those ones were meant to do. “Thank you,” he whispered after.

“Not a problem. Preference?”

“Left hand?”

I headed out and he followed, taking the routes he knew by heart to the street and then a couple of more blocks before his left hand wrapped into my right. I shivered a little, unable to help myself. I understood sacrifice. I understood duty. But whatever Mello had done to himself went far beyond anything I was comfortable with. I wondered if the person he had sacrificed himself for would ever know, and what they might do in turn. The worst thing you can do for anyone is something they can never pay back, but I wasn’t sure if the boy understood that.

Or perhaps knew it too well, and that thought was so uncomfortable I wished I’d never had it.

One lift and a levtrain and a short walk was enough to reach the safehouse. Mello was silent the whole times, eyes closed, just listening to the world with a baffled frown. I wasn’t sure how long he’d spent above, but it was long enough that the solidity of the city unnerved him. Everything quiet, regulated and sane.

Everything in the upper levels of the city was neat and orderly by design. The buildings functional and solid, designed to withstand war and provide shelter and attack locations for us if someone invaded with soldiers. Everything was environment-proofed if a storm broke through the surface, and that was also enough to protect against a basic impact rifle. Nothing like what the Core of the cities have, but it was far better than the surface where survival would be a matter of luck more than anything else. The roads and sidewalks were all neat and tidy, government patrols regular enough in their irregularity to keep things orderly on the surface.

The safe house wasn’t anything special from the outside, or even the inside. It wasn’t particularly safe, since that could draw attention if the area was scanned. It was larger than the official maps suggested though and the asi that ran it more advanced than most of the surrounding ones. There were two caches of weapons and a shielded link to the governments private Array. I’d had to reinforce the three rooms myself and pinged the asi ahead of time to order supplies during our ride.

“It’s – quiet,” was all Mello offered softly as the sidewalk moved us to the end of one unit of buildings. I normally walked faster than the sidewalks travelled, but given Mello I just kept still, turned down the next sidewalk, and the next until we reached the safehouse. The building looked like every other building on the street: businesses below, housing on top though the businesses were all fronts for various government operations. The building pinged my ID and we went on, the lift taking us only to the fifth floor. I led the boy down the hallway and to unit 5L13, the door opening quietly.

The interior wasn’t much. One common room with a kitchen unit, info centre and table, and two bedrooms with a connecting bathroom at the far end. It was far more open than most housing units in the area, but that was for reasons of line of sight rather than anything else.

“Asi: add designate: Mello,” I said to the assistant.

There was a pause as the computer scanned him. “Provisional access granted per approval. Provisional exception authorized?”

Alder might not like using a lot of the modern systems, but he used them well when he had to. “Yes.”

Mello blinked a couple of times and turned slowly. The Lady – or whoever she had worked with – had designed to ocular implants to not feed back into him. But I could at least have him connected to the room cameras and see his own body that way. The asi noted the supplied and designated sleeping quarters to the both of us, and a map of the surrounding area and access points to lifts and glide tubes.

The boy walked slowly into the one bedroom, coming back out a couple of minutes later in a different shirt and pants.”These fit. You scanned my size?”

I shook my head. “No. I am good at guessing sizes.”

“That is an odd skill?”

“Not really. I was in the last war with Eden 4. You get good at judging people so you can order body bags and ship the dead home.”

Mello was quite a moment at that. “For their families?”

“More to keep the tech inside them out of enemy hands. Unofficially, of course.”

He nodded and made his way to the kitchen slowly, running his hands over the world surface and the fridge before opening it. “You ordered food I can eat.”

“I would be a poor host otherwise.”

Mello didn’t respond, pulled out a small food pack, lifted his shift and inserted it into his shunt before putting a Full patch on one arm for a few seconds before throwing it out. His shunt was civilian grade: insert food back, get nutrients equal to a solid meal. Remove back later when it collected waste. Repeat. Military shunts could use almost anything as a food source in them, but that wasn’t something we talked about with civilians. Replacing stomachs was practical, but seldom done without just cause because you needed to use drugs to convince the body you’d eaten even though you had. Put the wrong food in a shunt, use a Full and you’d starve to death thinking you weren’t.

He walked over after, circling me slowly. Using the asi scans only, since it was all he could access. “You’re taller than I thought you were, ma’am. Do you – use another name, besides Stevens?”

“No, I don’t. Ma’am is fine, if you want to be formal.”

That won a shy smile. “I’d rather not, If I may?” He was quiet a moment. “May I ask you a question?”

“Yes.”

“Your eyes contain cybernetics as well?”

“They do.”

“Can you cry?” he asked, even softer, a slight tremble in the words. I marvelled at what the Lady had done to make such a voice box.

“No. I have always taken that to be a blessing.”

“Me too.” He licked his lips. “Thank you, for the helping.”

“You’re welcome. I’m hoping I don’t have to kill you.”

“Me too,” he said again, with feeling, the Lady definitely an enigma to him as well.

I left him to learn the safe house as best he could and returned to make my report. It was true I didn’t want to kill him, but not as true as the reality that I would without hesitation. Sometimes I am far too good at being the person I was made into. But a small part of me wonders if I can always be good enough: surely there would come a point where I would not sacrifice everything for duty.

I suspected it would only come with my death.

#writing #prose #survivors #post cyberpunk #biopunk

[theliberaltony]

via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

Voters won’t just elect candidates on Tuesday. There are also more than 150 ballot measures being decided across dozens of states. These often fly under the radar because they don’t fall along clear Republican-vs.-Democrat lines, but that’s often why they’re so interesting: They force voters to engage directly with policy rather than fall back on their partisan identity. As a result, ballot measures can produce surprising results — like minimum-wage increases passing with more than 55 percent in red states. Here, grouped by subject matter, are the ballot measures to watch on election night.

Redistricting

Partisan gerrymandering — or the process of drawing electoral districts to benefit one party over the other — has become a hot political topic. With the next round of redistricting kicking off after the 2020 census, the following four states have ballot measures that aim to take the process out of the hands of governors and state legislatures. But fixing or preventing gerrymandering is complex, so they’re all going about it in slightly different ways:

Michigan’s Proposal 2 would amend the state constitution to create an independent citizen redistricting commission to draw both congressional and state-legislative lines. The proposal looks as though it will pass — it received 59 percent support in two recent polls.

Colorado will vote to create two similar commissions: one for congressional redistricting (Amendment Y) and one for state-legislative redistricting (Amendment Z). Notably, Colorado’s commissions would be required to draw as many competitive districts as possible — a requirement that proved controversial in Arizona, where opponents argued that it overrode considerations like geography. We couldn’t find any polling for Amendment Z, but 78 percent of respondents told YouGov in mid-October that they would vote “yes” on Amendment Y. (In Colorado, state constitutional amendments need 55 percent to pass.)

In Utah, Proposition 4 would create a bipartisan commission to propose congressional and state-legislative maps, but it wouldn’t be fully independent: Its seven members would be appointed by the governor and leaders of both parties in the legislature, and both maps would be subject to final approval — and possible revision — by the legislature. Buoyed by an ad quoting Ronald Reagan calling for bipartisan redistricting, the “yes” side led an October poll 58 percent to 22 percent.

In addition to setting campaign-contribution limits and instituting a cooling-off period for lobbying, Missouri’s Amendment 1 assigns a nonpartisan “state demographer” to draw the state-legislative map using specific mathematical formulas to maximize competitiveness and partisan fairness. Existing politician commissions would still have to review the maps but could only make changes if 70 percent of members agree. Amendment 1 would not change the way that congressional maps are drawn.

Voting changes and voter-identification laws

While most states bar incarcerated felons from voting, only four continue to prohibit it after sentences have been served. In Florida, 1.5 million people — more than 10 percent of the state’s voting-age population — can’t vote because of their criminal records. It has a disproportionate racial impact as well: 21 percent of the state’s adult black population can’t vote as a result. But that would all change under Amendment 4, which would restore the right to vote to felons (except murderers and some sexual offenders) who have completed their sentences. According to an analysis by The New York Times/Upshot, Amendment 4 could create about 300,000 new voters, assuming a turnout rate of 20 percent,1 and many of them are likely to be Democrats. That influx of voters could be enough to tip a close election in Democrats’ favor. Two recent polls have shown Amendment 4 at exactly the 60 percent support it needs to pass.

Other states will vote on expanding access to voting. With Question 5, Nevada will vote on whether to become the 15th state to register voters automatically when they apply for or renew a driver’s license. If Question 2 passes in Maryland, it will join 15 other states that allow residents to register to vote on Election Day. But the state with the most election-related changes on the ballot is Michigan, where Proposal 3 would enact automatic voter registration, same-day voter registration, the ability to vote absentee without an excuse and straight-ticket voting (the option to vote for all candidates of a certain party by filling in a single bubble) in one fell swoop. Polls show Proposal 3 passing by more than 40 points.

Changes to voter identification laws will be on the ballot as well: Both Arkansas (with Issue 2) and North Carolina would amend their constitutions to require a photo ID to vote. Both states had voter-ID laws previously that were struck down by courts. The amendments are polling very well in both states and are likely to pass.

Fossil-fuel taxes and renewable-energy standards

Taxes on fossil fuels are the focus of two ballot measures — one that appeals to conservatives and one that appeals to progressives. In California, Proposition 6 would repeal gas taxes and vehicle fees that were imposed by state lawmakers last year in a move that angered many conservatives. State Republicans are hoping the measure boosts GOP turnout enough to save their endangered U.S. House incumbents. But with $46 million raised in opposition to the measure, recent polls have shown Prop 6 trailing by single digits. In Washington, Initiative 1631 would levy the first state-level carbon tax in the country. Polluters would have to pay $15 per metric ton of carbon they emit — a rate that would increase by $2 every year that the state fails to meet its emissions targets. The measure is expected to raise $2.3 billion that would go into environmental and clean-energy initiatives. An early October poll gave I-1631 a 50-36 lead, but the vote could be closer than that lead indicates; history tells us that undecided voters disproportionately break for “no” in ballot-measure campaigns, and the oil industry has spent $30 million in opposition to the initiative.

Finally, one of the most expensive ballot-measure campaigns in the country revolves around Arizona Proposition 127, which would require the state’s utilities to derive 50 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2030.2 Proponents led by progressive donor Tom Steyer have spent almost $18 million in support of the measure, but opponents have countered with nearly $22 million. According to two recent polls, the “no” side is winning handily.

Marijuana

Marijuana-legalization ballot measures have almost become cliché at this point; they’ve proven wildly successful as a tool to enact a liberal policy that might be a nonstarter in many state legislatures. In 2018, both Proposal 1 in Michigan and Measure 3 in North Dakota would legalize the use of recreational marijuana. In North Dakota, the ballot measure would also expunge the record of anyone convicted of a marijuana-related crime. Polls there are all over the place: Strategic Research Associates found Measure 3 failing 65-26, while a poll released by a pro-legalization group found it passing 51-36. In Michigan, two recent polls gave Proposal 1 similar 16- and 17-point leads.

Meanwhile, Utah and Missouri are both considering legalizing medical marijuana, but the circumstances are unusual. Supporters have agreed to stop campaigning for Utah’s Proposition 2 and pursue legislation instead, while Missouri is considering three ballot measures — Amendment 2, Amendment 3 and Proposition C — that would each permit residents to use the drug medicinally.3

Medicaid expansion

Medicaid expansion has become a popular ballot measure in states with conservative governments. Maine became the first state to pass a ballot measure expanding Medicaid last year, and it may break new ground on the health front this year with Question 1, a measure to fund universal home health care for people over 65. If Proposition 2 in Idaho, Initiative 427 in Nebraska and Proposition 3 in Utah all pass, they would expand Medicaid access to more than 300,000 people — 150,000 people in Utah alone.4 Medicaid expansion is also on the ballot in Montana, where Initiative 185 would permanently fund the program (under current law, the expansion in place right now would expire in 2019) by raising taxes on tobacco products. Of the four Medicaid-expansion ballot measures, at least two look likely to pass. The Utah measure led 59 percent to 33 percent in an October poll, and a poll in Idaho showed Medicaid expansion passing 45 percent to 19 percent, with 36 percent undecided (the poll was released in August, but Republican Gov. Butch Otter recently endorsed the measure). But in Montana, a late-September/early-October survey showed a dead heat, 41 percent to 41 percent. I couldn’t find any polling of Nebraska, so it’s not clear what will happen there, but if all four measures pass, the U.S. would be down to just 15 states that have not yet expanded Medicaid.

I could go on and on — I didn’t even touch on campaign-finance proposals in South Dakota, minimum-wage increases in Arkansas and Missouri, or gun control in Washington. And if you’re interested in knowing more, Daniel Nichanian has a good list of measures to watch. From health care to climate change to how we run our elections, direct democracy can affect daily life in your state even before a new politician is sworn in.

#IFTTT #Politics – FiveThirtyEight #politics #538 #Nathaniel Rakich

[loadingbitcoin249]

1password Dashlane Lastpass

Mar 09, 2021 After downloading the 1Password desktop app, users are given the option to import passwords from their previous password manager — this process is super simple if you’re importing from another password manager like Dashlane or LastPass, or built-in password systems from Chrome, Firefox, or iCloud Keychain. But what about when you want to decide between 1Password vs Lastpass or 1Password vs Dashlane? We’ll review these three options in detail and help you with knowing the most appropriate password manager out of them. 1Password is a modern looking tool, which you can use to store your passwords securely.

Open the Dashlane application and select File Import passwords LastPass in the menu at the top of the window. Select your.csv file and click on Import. Dashlane will tell you what information has been successfully imported. Only your passwords will be in the Passwords section of Dashlane, other items will be found in the other sections. Like Dashlane, LastPass allows data imports from prior password managers, saving significant time. Unlike Dashlane, LastPass doesn’t function as a standalone app but rather a browser-based UI. This means that the program is accessible from any browser rather than solely a device with the app or browser extension installed.

Passwords are the metaphorical and literal keys to our online existence. Although we somehow have to manage dozens or even hundreds of them, one compromised password is enough to make your life very difficult. At best, you can lose access to a cherished online account. At worst? You can lose money, private messages and pictures, or even your identity. The good news is that you can keep your passwords organized and secured with the help of a password manager. In this article, we explain what a password manager does and list four excellent password managers, with their strengths and weaknesses so that you find the best password manager for you.

What Is A Password Manager And Why Do You Need One?

A password manager is an app designed to store your passwords in an encrypted form, securely locked behind a single master password. Because there’s just one password to remember, you can use a different password for each site you visit and ask your password manager to tell you the right password when you need it.

“The most important advice I can give consumers is to stop writing passwords down, and never use the same password twice,” said Paul Vixie, founder and chief executive officer of security company Farsight.

1password Dashlane Lastpass Extension

“Creating these long random passwords will more or less guarantee you more safety in the case of a breach of a third-party website. If you create these unique, long, hard passwords for every single site that you use, if even one is breached, it will not impact your other accounts,” he added.

Popular password managers, such as those featured in this article, come with password generator functionality, allowing you to generate impenetrable passwords with a simple click. Other popular features of password managers include synchronization across all your devices, two-factor authentication for extra security, credit card and personal information storage, and password sharing, just to name a few.

Visual ideology. Build and run code on a remote machine or Windows Subsystem for Linux and browse, edit, and debug from within Visual Studio. Use CMake to target multiple platforms from the comfort of a single IDE. Development applications – Get Started. Components – Visual Studio C core features – Windows Universal C Runtime – Visual C for Linux.

Once you get used to how password managers work, it’s impossible to go back and manage passwords the old-fashion – and highly insecure – way. Let’s take a look at what your options are, and what each of them has to offer.

Launched in 2008, LastPass is arguably the best-known password manager today. It works on all popular platforms and has browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Opera, and other web browsers. You can use LastPass for free, but you won’t be able to enjoy some of its best features.

Strengths:

Comes with 1 GB of secure online file storage.

Works on all devices and platforms.

Many multi-factor authentication options available.

Weaknesses:

Its popularity makes it a prime target for hackers.

Its security has been questioned in the past.

Its price has recently doubled unexpectedly.

It costs $2 a month to unlock encrypted file storage, advanced multi-factor options, LastPass for applications, and other important features. Without them, LastPass fails in comparison with many other password managers that are currently available.

1Password has always been popular among Apple fans because it runs great on Mac computers and mobile devices and sports an elegant design with a simple user interface. Although there is an official app available for Windows 7 or later – and browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox – 1Password somehow feels like a legacy Mac app.

Strengths:

Apps for multiple platforms and extensions for popular web browsers.

Elegant design and simple user interface.

Works great on Mac computers and mobile devices.

Weaknesses:

Not many import options.

Isn’t compatible with Internet Explorer and probably never will be.

Free for only 30 days.

You can use 1Password for free for 30 days. The cheapest membership costs $2.99 a month when billed annually, and it includes unlimited password storage with 1 GB of document storage, friendly 24/7 customer support, 365-day item history to restore deleted passwords, travel Mode to help you safely cross borders, and two-factor authentication for an extra layer of protection.

1password Or Lastpass Or Dashlane

Dashlane is a likable password manager that’s available on Windows, macOS, Android, and Linux. It can sync your personal data across multiple devices and allow you to access your passwords and personal information anywhere you go. It comes with a VPN (Virtual Private Network) service to protect your online activity, but it wouldn’t be accurate to say that the service is a free bonus.

Lastpass Vs Dashlane

Astropad ipad. Strengths:

Well-designed user interface.

Supports multiple platforms.

Includes VPN protection to help you hide your online activity from third parties.

Weaknesses:

More expensive than other password managers, especially if you already have a VPN.

Doesn’t play well with non-standard logins.

Can manage only 50 passwords without paying.

At $3.33 a month, Dashline is significantly more expensive than other password managers on this list, especially if you already pay for a VPN service that works great for you. We also don’t like how limited the free version of Dashline is. Whereas other password managers let you store as many passwords as you want, you can manage only up to 50 passwords with Dashline.

Myki is the youngest password manager on this list, launched in private beta in September 2016, but it deserves your attention more than any other password manager you can download today. Why? Anydesk second monitor. Because it fully embraces cloud-less password storage and lets you use your fingerprint, Face ID, or a pin code to access your passwords, credit cards, and other sensitive information.

Strengths:

Stores your passwords away from the cloud.

Lets you use your fingerprint, Face ID, or a pin code to access your passwords.

Works on most computers and mobile devices.

Easy to use and easy on the eyes.

Weaknesses:

Being the new kid on the block, you’ll encounter minor bugs here and there.

Myki can act as a two-factor authenticator and manage your authentication tokens for you so you can significantly increase your online security without compromising your convenience. This password manager has been designed with teams in mind, and it supports seamless password sharing and offers flexible bulk pricing that starts at $2.99 a month and goes down with more users.

Read Now:Myki Password Manager & 2FA Authenticator Review

Your Favorite?

Do you use a password manager that we didn’t include on this list? What is your favorite, and what makes it stand out from the others?

[saasproductreviews]

Misshosting Review: The Best Website Hosting Services

Online companies provide a plethora of options for individuals with an entrepreneurial spirit, making web hosting a must for enterprises. So, if you want to start a side hustle and eventually turn it into a mainstream business, you should look at internet business opportunities. The trip, however, begins with a website.

We are all aware that maintaining a website takes time and technical ability – if you do not have either of these, you will have to pay for it. So, by selecting a cPanel web hosting package, you can build and maintain an engaging website while keeping your costs low. To do this, you must prepare your technological requirements ahead of time since this will allow you to handle your payments more efficiently. In this MissHosting review, we will tell you all you need to know to create a dependable internet business without the need for experts.

Excited no!

Let's get started.

Firstly, we will discuss What is SEO hosting?

SEO Hosting?

If you want to establish links between your own websites while also ranking your sites at the top of search engine result pages, C-class IP hosting (SEO Hosting) may be the ideal solution for you. It enables you to route many separate dedicated IP addresses through a single server.

Search engines rank better sites with links to relevant sites situated on unique Class C IP addresses. Our SEO hosting package, which includes VPS SEO hosting and one-of-a-kind dedicated servers, will make things easier for you.

Now, what is Misshosting?

Miss Hosting is a new firm that provides web hosting services such as shared, VPS, reseller, and dedicated server hosting. It also offers affiliate hosting, WordPress hosting, and the sale and hosting of domain names. It is a one-stop-shop for setting up, building, and hosting a website with a domain of your choosing. Thanks to an easy-to-use site builder.

Miss Hosting started in Stockholm, Sweden, and currently operates in Sofia, Bulgaria, and Miami, Florida. The firm had previously focused on the Nordic market but has lately expanded its focus to include the United States and South American sectors.

Miss Hosting Web Hosting services

MissHosting is a Swedish cPanel web hosting service provider with a significant presence in Europe and a fast-increasing presence in the United States. Its data centers are strategically positioned in Chicago, Illinois, and Stockholm, Sweden. This Swedish cPanel web hosting service provider provides a diverse range of web hosting services at very reasonable pricing. Miss Hosting also offers cheap domain names, making it an excellent alternative for cost-conscious companies. Aside from fair price, this site hosting service provider also makes setup simple with convincing composition and SEO tools.

Daily backups at no cost.

Miss Hosting's web hosting services provide free daily backups to keep your data secure from hackers and any technical issues. So, no matter what brings your website down, you can get it back up and running in minutes.

Dedicated Assistance

Miss Hostings' support team will provide you with prompt technical assistance during and after the setup process. Furthermore, support is provided in a type of language, making it perfect for non-English speaking European nations.

Money-Back Guarantee for 45 Days

We totally realize how perplexing it might be with so many cPanel web hosting service providers ready to provide you the best rates. So, if you are in the process of making a long-term choice for your online business, you should be aware that Miss Hosting's web hosting service provides a 45-day money-back guarantee on all web hosting plans. As a result, you do not have to think twice about evaluating its services.

Email Addresses for Free

Most web hosting companies charge a fee to generate a @DomainName email ID. However, Miss Hosting's plans allow you to do so for free. Because the @DomainName email ID helps create trust, it is essential for internet companies such as agencies, affiliate websites. Although you may establish an infinite number of free email IDs, email storage has a maximum restriction determined by your cPanel web hosting plan.

Plans and Pricing

Hosting does not have a month-to-month payment option. It offered in 12-, 24-, and 36-month bundles.

Prices for VPS Cloud hosting range from $5/month to $80/month, depending on the amount of RAM and bandwidth you want. Miss Hosting's most popular cloud VPS plan is $10 per month and includes 1 GB of RAM, a single-core processor, a 30GB SSD drive, and 2 TB of bandwidth.

Domain name prices range from approximately $12.99 for a.com to $159.99.CEO.

Miss Hosting is pleased to provide its customers with over 650 different TLDs.

Miss Hosting's reseller hosting is more expensive, ranging from $25/month for the most basic package to $124.92/month for the ultimate plan. Reseller hosting allows the user to give their clients a control panel from which they may construct and update their own websites.

The dedicated server packages might be rather expensive. However, Miss Hosting is giving significant savings for the first year. The expert dedicated server costs $99 per month, while the premium plan costs $139 per month, followed by the ultimate ideas that cost $199 per month.

Time To Wrap It Up

To summarise, Miss Hosting's website hosting services are suitable for companies of all sizes. However, you make the correct decision. However, if you are a professional such as an attorney, CPA, or operate a small business, you will have very little time to develop and develop your website. In this Misshosting review, we propose that you use the numerous Sitebuilder templates that Miss Hosting's web hosting clients have access to. We have offered valuable insights in this review that will help you through the choosing process.

#Misshosting Review #Misshosting #Webhosting #Develop Website #SEO Hosting

[manningjoshua]

kansas insurance laws

BEST ANSWER: Try this site where you can compare quotes from different companies :quotes-for-insurance.net

kansas insurance laws

kansas insurance laws for the following purposes: There are no minimum requirements for the minimum amount of automobile liability coverage. There is no required minimum liability policy. There is no required policy limit for the additional insurance coverage, as the maximum of automobile liability coverage for private passenger auto insurance has been mandated for about three years. In addition, there is no requirement for comprehensive coverage. The insurance is charged for liability to others and applies to their auto liability that exceeds the limits of liability coverage provided by a liability plan. There is no requirement for any other coverage so long as the limit is less than 10 miles. There is, however, much more of the same basic coverage. There are a few exceptions, however, that are necessary if an accident creates any financial hardship for the injured driver or the owner and the person is on your policy. There are a few special exceptions, and sometimes coverage is required, but, as far as the automobile insurance policy itself, there will be other coverage you will be required to add to cover an. kansas insurance laws, your costs will increase significantly. A good rule of thumb is to just pay that you don’t have car insurance. If you go that route, you can assume you’ll be out at least 7 days before the start of the event, which may make the cost of car insurance go down at any moment. In order for the state of Iowa to be financially responsible for its transportation, it needs cars, as well as any vehicles registered. You’ll need to verify that you have insurance before you can take out a policy. If you go out as early as you can, or wait until you register your new car, you can ensure the insurance will be in force immediately, although you might be penalized for not having it in the first place. It is possible to be as late as seven days late while registering a new car, unless you’re a few hundred dollars a month under your parent’s salary, which is $7 a week. However. kansas insurance laws, not your actual credit. While not every insurance company will underwrite a policy with a higher premium, at least that’s how the company thinks about risk. And unless your credit is spotty, you’d be able to qualify for better rates from a carrier that isn’t burdened by having to pay a higher premium. If you’re looking for cheap car insurance you can count on, Good2Go Auto Insurance® may be able to help. We help you find low down payments and easy monthly payment options to get you on the road for less. ¹Consult with an attorney to see if it is illegal to drive without insurance in your state. Quote times on partner sites may vary.  Prices vary based on the state where you reside, the coverage limits you purchase, and other underwriting factors An insurance policy or policy of health or life insurance is called Personal Lines coverage and provides coverage when not at all needed. It can even be.

Solving Insurance Problems

Solving Insurance Problems…with A, which you can insure for a while is the most difficult part of your car insurance. However it’s the best time to start thinking about what you can do to lower costs. It’s the best time to start a long term plan. If you know just how difficult it can be to get into a very expensive car insurance policy, then a long-term policy at a cheaper company could be the safest bet you can make. That is, if you can prove this, then at a rate that can cover many of your financial expenses. You’ll typically purchase insurance through an agent. However, they also use their own personal knowledge to guide you in the right direction. Since most auto insurance policies only include liability, you’ll have to consider it before applying for insurance from that point forward. Even in the best years of life, when you have a car that you like to drive, there will be certain .

Factors Allowed in Kansas Auto Insurance Rates

Factors Allowed in Kansas Auto Insurance Rates Insurance companies in Kansas can apply rates based on these criteria including: (1) age, occupation, area, make and model of vehicle, driving history and credit. (2) driving experience and driving record. (3) type of vehicle, make and model. (4) policy type. (5) credit history. (6) driving record. (7) age and experience. (8) region. (9) credit rating. Vehicle Identification Statistics State Farm also data show that auto theft rates have fallen in Kansas and across the country, but that recovery is still not complete. According to the , the state of Kansas is ranked as the nation’s 15th in car losses every year, with some of the lowest rates in the nation for homeowners. Maintaining a good credit score is a good way to save on insurance premiums, but it can fall well below the poverty line for many residents..

Kansas SR-22 Insurance Documents

Kansas SR-22 Insurance Documents are a must-have for every insurance company. Yes. You can renew your Missouri car insurance policy at any time. However, you must always notify the insurance company if you switch or get a new policy, or you may have to file an SR-22 form with your state’s insurance commission. This filing is usually required after the suspension of your driving privileges has been lifted. The following are some of the risks drivers in Missouri face each year: Yes. If you get a tickets, the insurance company will consider your financial risk. If you.

Required Minimum Kansas Auto Insurance

Required Minimum Kansas Auto Insurance Requirements for Liability & Uninsured Motorist Coverage: 25/50/25. Read the fine print on this policy before you start to think twice. A DUI will increase your insurance rates by 495% and increase your risk of car being stolen, vandalized, or damaged by falling tree limbs. If your vehicle is totaled within the first two years, uninsured drivers outnumber cars at a rate 3,500% which is twice the state average. Read the fine print on an auto insurance policy in Kansas if you wish to avoid an accident by waiting to file a claim with an unlicensed driver. Read the fine print and ask questions before you accept your insurance company: The Missouri Department of Public Safety, Missouri National Insurance Number: 6775; you can either say your license has been suspended or re-suspended. In most cases, the time it takes to receive a suspended license suspension is less than 24 hours before a $3,000 fine and 8 months of driving until the license is.

Can I Show My Insurance ID Card from My Phone?

Can I Show My Insurance ID Card from My Phone? It appears that the smartphone will show a hard link credit card or credit card that will allow you to show insurance with your mobile device, or even just text to their phone to get an accurate answer. The bottom line is that the mobile device you choose to show an insurance ID card and other information at will not. I have my drivers license and they don t provide in-person auto insurance. I know this to be the case, so I m sorry to hear about your needs. Your mobile phone is very inexpensive, thanks P.S. If I had one of your insurance ID cards, this would be the best way to show my personal information, for sure it won t be easy to find insurance or to replace my phone ID (I m actually a bit reluctant about this, but luckily I m not in the business of lying. It s not just me, it s your policy and the person who you know will tell.

Penalties for Driving Without Auto Insurance

Penalties for Driving Without Auto Insurance: The state of Rhode Island requires that you have auto insurance in place of a high-risk coverage limit. The penalty is a $100 restoration fee if you’re caught driving uninsured after being assessed the same amount of money for having additional coverage. Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol is considered a felony in the state of Rhode Island. You’re subject to the same fine penalties as a driver who’s not in the state or hasn’t been assessed enough to warrant a high-risk coverage plan, or you’re deemed a high-risk driver who’s not able to obtain car insurance in the private market, the penalty for driving uninsured in the state is a minimum $40 for the first offense, and a maximum of $100 for subsequent offenses within a two-year term. A second offense carries a maximum of $200, and a third or subsequent offense results in a combined fine and $1,000 in additional fines. The penalty.

Cheap Car Insurance in Kansas

Cheap Car Insurance in Kansas The cheapest insurance providers in Kansas for full coverage are Farmers, USAA, and Farmers Insurance. With USAA, a driver in Kansas may be able to drop to 100% with no action from their insurance provider. Cheaper Nationwide for State Farm customers The cheapest insurance company for drivers in Kansas with full coverage policies is USAA. USAA’s rates are also low because the company only insures military members, their families and veterans. » MORE: Better car insurance for seniors in Kansas Kansas drivers under age 50 can get a good deal on their auto insurance by maintaining a clean record. Senior residents of the Hawkeye State generally pay less than average for auto insurance. In fact, some of the – $2,500 for seniors with perfect driving records. Insurance companies base rates on an individual driver’s age, rather than a number of other factors. If a driver is older and better-controlled, they may be able to find lower rates.

Kansas Penalties for Driving Without Car Insurance

Kansas Penalties for Driving Without Car Insurance, Missouri Residents can be fined $200 to $500 for a second offense. If you’re caught driving without insurance in Montana, you can have as much as three months behind the wheel, and the penalties can get really, really expensive. To avoid the penalties, be sure you have at least the minimum required car insurance. Montana is one of a few states that have taken steps to regulate the behavior of uninsured drivers. The state is also urging insurance companies not to reevaluate uninsured motorist claims after recent rate hikes for the 30 uninsured motorists on their insurance policies. In addition to already taking away uninsured motorists, the state also requires car insurance companies that write policies for high-risk drivers to notify the state whenever they become licensed, unless a violation occurs in the first two years that the policy is written to cover. Montana, at-fault, asks for reimbursement from the insurance company for any unpaid bills. For the other driver’s car insurance policy, if any, the insurance.

Kansas Car Insurance Laws

Kansas Car Insurance Laws for New England Car drivers in New England, including England, can find good rates on car insurance, considering rates vary considerably from state to state and town to town. Factors such as vehicle safety and accident risk can drive the cost of your car insurance too. To help reduce your costs, shop around with different car insurance companies to find the best price. Cars are a common sight in towns such as New Hampshire. In some parts of America, the state’s most popular car is located in a region known for its lack of insurance levels. Here, the highest number of drivers is New England, with 4,414 cars. You’re more likely to find cheaper car insurance than people who are uninsured. You may find it best to shop around and compare premiums among local insurance providers. Compare New England car insurance rates Rates for New England car insurance increased sharply in 2018 compared with 2019 according to data released by the.

How Many Uninsured Drivers are in Kansas?

How Many Uninsured Drivers are in Kansas? Kansas drivers are required by law to carry auto liability insurance at an acceptable amount to satisfy court and in accordance with the minimum car insurance requirements. The minimum coverage amounts are $25,000 bodily injury liability per person, $50,000 bodily injury liability per accident and $10,000 property damage liability. The courts do not allow drivers to choose higher amounts of liability coverage, however, all licensed drivers must choose at least $10,000 in Bodily Injury Picking Motorists in Kansas must keep proof of insurance on a person of the legal age. Motorists are required to show proof of insurance when: Going to a traffic stop. Driving a friend s car. Carrying the policyholder s name on the person s insurance card. Getting a stationary truck. Cleaning the car. Uninsured motorist coverage (UM) Kansas requires drivers to purchase (UM) coverage. This covers you if you are injured.

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Should You Get a Chinchilla Or a Hamster?

If you're looking for a new pet, either a chinchilla or a hamster would be a good choice. But which is better, and why? What's the difference between them?

Should you get a chinchilla or a hamster? We believe chinchillas are the better pet, because they're softer, no more expensive or difficult to care for, and live longer than hamsters. Both require training to be tolerate handling, and both require occasional veterinary care. If you aren't sure which to get, ask a friend who owns either pet, or a nearby breeder, if you can spend time with their animal/s to see which one is the best pet for you. You can have both but you can't keep chinchillas and hamsters in the same cage.

The guide below looks at every aspect of owning either chinchillas or hamsters: how cuddly they are, how good with children they are, how easy they are to care for, how much they cost and more. We'll also look at why you can't keep chinchillas and hamsters in the same cage, what to do if you want both, and what to do if you can't decide between hamster or chinchilla.

Should You Get a Chinchilla Or a Hamster?

We're firmly in the 'chinchilla camp'. We think chins make one of the best small pets by far, so we definitely recommend getting a chinchilla if you want companionship and fun. But you'd be a fool to take our word for it! That's why we've detailed each and every way that chinchillas and hamsters differ below, so you can make up your own mind.

What's The Difference Between a Hamster And a Chinchilla?

Chinchillas and hamsters are both rodents, but that's where their similarities end.

There are two species of chinchilla, the long-tailed and the short-tailed. Both of these species come from Chile, and the mountain sides of the Andes, although it's only the long-tailed chinchilla that has been domesticated and kept as a pet. All chinchilla species are a part of the family Chinchillidae, and are closely related to viscachas. Because they're from South America too, they aren't too distantly related to guinea pigs either.

Hamsters, on the other hand, are part of the family Cricetidae. There are many different hamster species, but only five have been domesticated, including the Syrian or Golden hamster. They are found in a range of places: they're common in Syria and Greece, for example, but have been found as far away as China too.

Anatomically speaking, chinchillas and hamsters aren't too alike. You can instantly tell them apart just by looking at them. Chinchillas are much bigger than hamsters, and much fluffier. Hamsters have tiny stubby tails, while chinchillas have long, fluffy ones. They're also different to care for.

Are Hamsters or Chinchillas Easier to Care For?

[caption id="attachment_3175" align="alignright" width="300"] Hamsters need just as much care as any other pet. The idea of a 'low-maintenance pet' is a myth.[/caption]

It's a myth that hamsters, chinchillas or any other small pet requires minimal care. It's true that you don't need to put as much effort into caring for your pet, since you don't need to take it for walks, for example. But what's not true is that you can leave either a hamster or a chinchilla in a cage with minimal human intervention. Hamsters do require attentive care—it's just that generations of people have neglected them. That's why it's so common for them to die before they reach the end of their natural lifespans.

Both chinchillas and hamsters require:

Interaction with their owners. It's no fun being alone in a cage all day, so spending time with your pet is required.

Frequent deep cage cleans, plus daily spot cleans. Bacteria builds up over time and makes the cage smelly. Both pets pee, poop, shed fur and leave partially-eaten food on the floor, so you should take 5-10 minutes each day to tidy the cage.

Daily refilling of food bowls or hay racks. We recommend unlimited feeding, but it's essential that you don't a) overfill the bowl so that some of the food goes off, or b) leave your pet without food. It's therefore best to check each day that your pet has enough to eat.

Regular changing of bedding to stop it from getting soaked. Both chinchillas and hamsters frequently go to the toilet, and if you don't keep their cages clean, the bedding inside gets soggy. This makes your pet's fur dirty and the cage, and the room it's in, smelly.

Frequent checking-over and vet checkups. You should handle or observe both pets occasionally to see if they have health issues. We recommend a vet checkup twice a year for each, to catch anything you might have missed.

If all this sounds like a lot of effort, then neither hamsters nor chinchillas are the pet for you.

Which is better? Both pets need care. The idea of a 'low-maintenance' pet is a myth.

Are Hamsters or Chinchillas Better for Kids?

Since both hamsters and chins require proper care, neither is 'easier' for your child to look after. As for cuddling, neither chinchillas nor hamsters are suitable for being held and hugged close. That's because both are delicate pets with delicate skeletal systems. You can easily break either a hamster's or a chinchilla's bones by squeezing it too tight.

That doesn't mean you can't pick them up, but both require that you spend lots of time with them first. Put yourself in the pet's shoes: you're much bigger than it, and the only thing that would want to pick up a wild chinchilla or hamster is a predator. As such, we don't recommend either chinchillas or hamsters for boisterous kids who can't be taught to be careful with and respectful of animals. If you're worried that your child would neglect their pet, get it a plant to teach it about responsibility rather than a living, breathing animal.

Chinchillas do edge ahead of hamsters since they're so fluffy and pleasant to pet. But kids seem to enjoy how small and cute hamsters are, and they're soft enough that your child will enjoy stroking them.

Which is better? Both are good for kids, so long as you teach your kid to care for them properly.

Are Hamsters or Chinchillas Cheaper to Keep?

Chinchillas and hamsters are roughly as expensive to keep as each other. They both have roughly the same care requirements, including:

Housing. Both hamsters and chinchillas live in cages. It's commonly thought that hamsters should live in tiny cages, but that's not true—they need big ones too.

Food. Both chinchillas and hamsters eat hay. Chinchillas are bigger so eat more, but hay is so cheap that it makes little difference.

Veterinary care. Both chinchillas and hamsters need vet care from time to time. Both can easily be physically injured as they're delicate, and both can get sick.

Cage accessories. Both chinchillas and hamsters need toys in their cages to stop them getting too bored.

However, there are a couple of ways in which hamsters are cheaper. The first is that hamsters are much easier to find and buy, and because of how common they are, they're much cheaper. While you can adopt a chinchilla from a shelter for free, most people buy them from breeders and pet shops, and hamsters remain cheaper if purchased this way. The second is that chinchillas live longer, which means you have to pay for their care for longer, too.

Which is better? Hamsters, but not by much.

Do Hamsters or Chinchillas Live Longer?

Chinchillas can live much longer than hamsters. Depending on your perspective, this could be either a good or a bad thing.

Chinchillas can live for over twenty years, and you can expect yours to hit the average of ten years if it receives good care. Hamsters, on the other hand, will only live for around three years. The longest-lived hamster ever only reached 4 1/2 years old.

If you're buying a pet for a child, you might want to get a pet that doesn't live as long, so a hamster would be better. But if you want long-term companionship, a chinchilla is by far the better choice.

Which is better? It depends.

Do Chinchillas Or Hamsters Have Softer Fur?

[caption id="attachment_3176" align="alignright" width="300"] Hamsters might be cute and cuddly, but they're not as fluffy as chinchillas, that's for sure.[/caption]

This is one way in which chinchillas are distinctly better than hamsters.

Chinchillas have the softest fur of any pet by a wide margin. They adapted as a species to the cold Andes Mountains, where their thick fur helps them keep warm in the winter. Their fur is so effective, in fact, that they can easily get heat stroke in summer temperatures. It's very soft to the touch.

Hamsters, on the other hand, come from warmer parts of the world. They didn't develop such thick fur because if they had, it would make them too warm.

You could be forgiven if this makes you assume that chinchilla fur is much harder to keep clean than hamster fur, but that's not true. If anything, chinchillas are the cleaner animals. That's because they learned to 'dust bathe', i.e. roll in volcanic dust to keep their fur from getting greasy. Owners let their pet chinchillas bathe in special dust once or twice a week, and this means you never have to brush them, bathe them in water, or use any kind of cleaning products on their fur. They've even learned—or at least, most chinchillas have learned—to pee in one corner of the cage so they don't get their fur wet as they go about their daily business.

Which is better? Chinchillas, chinchillas, chinchillas!

Do Hamsters or Chinchillas Handle Better?

You can handle both hamsters and chinchillas. But both require that you get to know them first, and you have to be gentle, too.

As we said above, to understand why, you have to put yourself in your pet's shoes. You're much bigger than it is, and it doesn't have any instinct to tell it that you're friendly. Dogs have been bred over millenia to be friendly to humans, so much so that even newborn puppies recognize that their owners aren't threats. But chinchillas haven't been through this process; they've only been consistently domesticated for a hundred years now. The same applies to hamsters. This means that you have to gradually befriend your pet over time, whichever you pick.

And again, whichever you pick, you have to be careful with it. You can't throw it around, move it quickly, or handle it in the rough-and-tumble way you might handle a puppy. Both hamsters and chins are delicate pets, which means they aren't suitable for hyperactive kids. You have to go at your pet's pace, not at yours, no matter which you pick.

That being said, chinchillas have the much softer fur. They're easily one of the best small pets for cuddling, even though you have to be careful with them.

Which is better? Chinchillas.

Which Is Better, Chinchilla or Hamster?

We would say that chinchillas make much better pets than hamsters. But, obviously, we're biased.

On a serious note, chinchillas are more pleasant to stroke and handle, they're more fun to keep, and they provide you with years more companionship. As for the price of their care, the most expensive aspect of it is the medical side, and that applies both to chinchillas and hamsters. If you don't have enough to pay a chinchilla's vet bills, then you can't afford a hamster's ones either. So, on balance, we genuinely recommend chinchillas as pets!

Extra Credit: Can Chinchillas And Hamsters Live Together?

If you still aren't sure which pet you would prefer, you might want to get both. That's not unusual; most people who have one pet will get another, either at the same time as the first or after it passes.

But do chinchillas like hamsters, or get along with hamsters? Just because hamsters and chinchillas are two small furry pets you keep in cages, that doesn't mean they can live in the same cage. You would have to keep them apart in two separate cages. Whether you have the space for this depends on where you live.

Why Can't Chinchillas Live With Hamsters?

The problem is that your chinchilla and your hamster are two different species of pet, and different species naturally compete. Unless they are well bonded, even two chinchillas or two hamsters will fight with each other over space (hides, tunnels, platforms, etc.) or over food. It's little wonder, then, that a chinchilla and a hamster would fight.

When we say 'fight', we don't mean low-level bickering either. Both chinchillas and hamsters can be vicious, dangerous to each other, especially chinchillas (whose teeth are much bigger than a hamster's). A chinchilla could easily kill a small hamster, and because of its instinct of not letting food go to waste, might even eat it. That's not a hypothetical either, it's a very real scenario that could happen if you kept the pair together.

The same applies even if you want the pair to play together. Chinchillas are social animals that live in groups, and learn to play with each other from an early age. Syrian hamsters, on the other hand, are solitary animals and should live alone. Even other hamster species that are social—like dwarf hamsters—wouldn't know how to play with chinchillas if they were allowed outside the cage together.

As such, your only option for keeping both would be to keep them separately.

If you can only get one, we recommend talking to a breeder directly, and seeing if you can spend time with each to see which you like better. You could go to a pet shop, but we don't recommend supporting pet shops as they typically keep their animals in unsuitable conditions. You could also ask a friend, if any of your friends have either pet, if you could spend time with it. After watching and handling both you should get an idea of which you prefer.

Below, you can find our chinchilla quiz, new posts for further reading, and a signup for our Chinchilla Newsletter!

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