#and i dont know who the comment was from but it said 'best at 3 am' and nothing more

[hellisharchive]

Heyoooo! You probably know me from messaging you but I wanted to ask if you could write a Vox x Fem!reader where reader just takes care of a really wasted but infatuated Vox?

My Queen

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▏C/TW! ▬ 18+, drunk Vox, jealous reader, fluff fluff fluff, bathing

▏C/TW! ▬ Literally wrote this at 2 am and got done at 3 am, so not beta read <3 TYSM for the request! I hope you enjoy it!. AGAIN HOW THE FUCK DID I ACCIDENTLY POST THIS THIS WAS A DRAFT. I dont like how this turned out tbh

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You and Vox were close, but you wouldn't dare say that you two were dating. You did have a small crush on him and was scared that confessing would ruin your fiendship. Little did you know he also had a crush on you as well, it was just unfortunate he was letting his business and brand take importance over his personal life. You were an honorary Vee and his best friend. Sure, Velvette and Valentino were his friends too, but you always got jealous as you watched Val and Vox act in such a romantic way with each other all the time. You always suspected that they were a thing, and even if they didn't have a label, you respected it. So, you always kept your feelings hidden deep down

. But you did need a break, it got so tiring having to watch and hear them act all cute and making sexual advances from the time to time. You've been ignoring Vox for at least two weeks, probably not the best choice but your emotions got the better of you. But tonight, you decided to get out of the tower and have some fun. You went to a pretty well known nightclub- not owned by Vox, a rare occurrence- to let off some steam. Your goal was to get laid by the end of the night with a convenientially attractive stranger, but life doesn't always work out as you want.

Yet, when Vel called you as you were about to get on the dancefloor with a hot bull, you dropped everything to take care of the television that was drowning his sorrows in alcohol. According to her, he kept talking about how he wished he could tell you something and how beautiful you were. You mulled over it as you walked back through the tower in your fancy nightclub dress just an hour earlier. While on your way there, you came across Velvette who looked very pissed off and scrolling through phone in the main living area of the personal living quarters. When she saw you, she flipped you off and rolled your eyes.

"Fucking finally! Vox has been throwing a hissy fit waiting for his queen to come and shut him up. Fuck you for taking so long, he's called me twenty fucking times asking where you were bevause he forgot he changed your contact info!" That was all she said before growling and walking away, signalling that you were going to handle this yourself like normal. You never let what Vel says get to you, that's just how she normally is. But he changed your contact info? What to? You've calmed down a drunken Vox many times before, but this time seemed bad.

"Vox?" You knock and call out before opening his door to find a very wasted man laying on his couch, hiccuping and looking incredibly sad. He was slumped over with a wine bottle in his hand, no wine glass, and the red liquid was spilled all over himself. Wine? Really? He got drunk on wine out of his entire collection? He's usually a fun drunk, cracking jokes and overall being the most funny in the room from the out of pocket shit he says. So seeing him so down makes you feel guilty for ignoring him. But as soon as he looked at you, his face lit up and a smile immediately popped up. He dropped the glass and stood up, trying to rush up to you. However, because he was so inebriated, he started to stumble, which caused you to rush up and catch him from his shoulders.

"My Queen! Where did you go? I missed you my sweet!" The comment about Vel calling you his "queen" you just passed off as Vel being Vel, but now he was calling that you too? Maybe playing into this fantasy would be best, drunk people are never rational and don't know what they're even saying.

"Well my king, I had a very important meeting with another kingdom to attend to. But you requested my presence immediately!" You spoke matter-of-fact as you navigated him to the bathroom, it was hard already with him being unable to properly walk, but he also kept staring at you, so he stepped over his own feet countless times.

"Hehehe...I like when you call me that. YOUR king. I'm your king! How lucky am I?" He giggled and that made your heart beat faster. How lucky was he? What was he talking about? Maybe this was just his drunk self talking, you knew he didn't feel that way, he absolutely had a thing for Val, not you. Gulping, you finally manage to drag him to the bathroom where you sat him on the toilet. He would be so sticky with all that wine that soaked through his clothes, so you were going to bathe him. Sure, getting him in and out his going to be a challenge, but you still cared for this man a lot and wanted the best for him.

"I'm getting you your pjs, do not move ok?" You started to leave the bathroom when he whined loudly, making a swipe for your wrist but missed as he looked at you with puppy eyes. Due to his television screen head, his facial expressions can get extremely animated, unlike normal sinners. His eyes basically took up his entire screen, only leaving a little bit of space for a pout. The sight made your heart ache.

"Don't leave again my lovely queen! I need to tell you something!" Sighing, you gave him a soft smile and walked back up to him. Picking up his hand, you put your other hand on top of his and gave him the most softest smile you muster..

"It is bedtime, my king, you must be bathed before heading to our bed. You can tell me once we retire" Our bed. Saying it made your heart do flips.

"Oookkk my beautiful queen! Hehehe you're so pretty..." He had a dopey smile as you walked away, heart hammering so loud it should have been echoing in the room. He thought you were pretty? Fuck- why does he made you feel this way? You knew that look too, it was a look of complete love. He certainly couldn't love you though, that has to be impossible. He was with Val, he had to be. Going on autopilot, you gather up his favorite pyjamas and mentally prepare yourself for going back into the flames. When you get back, he was still sitting on the toilet, giggling and staring ahead as he was talking to himself about how in love with him he was.

What?

He was drunk, he was drunk, he was drunk- why couldn't you even entertain the idea of him returning your feelings? Why was it so hard to accept that fact? Taking a deep breath, you walk into the room and he lights up again.

"My queen! Are thou ready to bathe me? You got my favorite pjs! And you have an amazing ass! There's a reason why I married you!" Freezing once again, you ignoring his comment about your ass in luei of the last thing he said. Married...you? Did Vox think you two married each other? The thought made you shiver and face warm with how amazing that sounded. Being officially tied to him forever, waking up with him together, and getting to love him forever. Standing up after finishing setting the dials to the right temperature, you looked at him and now needed to know more.

"And why else did you marry me my dear?" Battting your eyelashes with the most innocent face you could gather, you started to stip him of his clothes. You've seen him naked a handful of times which always made you incredibly flustered, but undressing him? It made you nervous, especially with how he's acting towards you.

"You're the beeeeest, like, THE best! You're so pretty and gorgeous and have SUCH a hot bod! But you're so so sweet and amazing and help me with everything!" Did he...did he actually love you? Was whatever he was doing with Val was nothing? Shakily manging to get him completely undressed, you stood him up to maneuver him into the large tub. Not trusting yourself to say anything more, you gently lay him down in the perfectly warm water and start lathering him up. You also never bathed him before, so your nerves were going to overdrive. He took your silence and silenced himself too, maybe he somehow knew you were really anxious right now. Taking great care in not getting water on his head, you see as his face turned from a happy one, to a somber one.

The rest of the process of getting him out, drying him off, changing into his pjs, and moving him to his bed was deadly quiet. You felt like you would be breaking some unsaid rule. Tucking him into bed, you left a glass of water and painkillers on his nightstand, turning off the big light and turning on the lamp. Sitting down next to his curled up body, you rubbed his back and felt conflicted. He's drunk as balls. He probably won't remember any of this. Getting up and saying goodnight, he yells for you one last time.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what I did wrong but I'm sorry. Is it Val? We aren't anything serious. I was too scared to tell you because you're so beautiful and I didn't want you to leave me. I love you" Vox looked down at his lap with a sullen expression. Heart hurting for the countless time today, you gave him a kiss on his screen and turned away with a smile

"Tell me when you're sober"

#vox #vox x reader #hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel x reader #hazbin hotel vox x reader

[rrxnjun]

where do broken hearts go? [lmk]

you know what they say about past lovers that can remain just as friends - either they're still in love with each other, or they never were in the first place.

pairing: mark lee x fem! reader

genre: exes to lovers. angst, fluff.

wc: 12k (11.926)

warnings: mention of sex, weed and alcohol, heartbreak, swearing, park jihoon of treasure is one sassy bitch and also accidentally somehow the main character of this fanfic plz dont @ me, inconsistent writing style bc i took 3 months and 3 depressive episodes to finish this fic

playlist: where do broken hearts go - one direction / too good to say goodbye - bruno mars / everytime - ariana grande / closer - waterparks / tornado warnings - sabrina carpenter / survive the night - the boyz

a/n: hey do some of you still remember me..... AHAHA tell a friend to tell a friend rrxnjun is BACK! this fic isn't the ideal vision i had in my mind but we are working on not being so hard on ourselves with our writing so! here we are. i still kind of like it :,)

When you walk up to your best friend’s apartment one day with a tub of ice cream under your arm and the biggest pout on your face, Park Jihoon makes a complete list of things you should do to get over your failed relationship with Mark Lee. And while you think your dear friend has some psychopathic tendencies sometimes, you’d say the list is actually pretty reasonable of him. 

There’s something about the five simple steps that makes you wonder if it’s really as easy as Jihoon makes it sound. And while you doubt it– because the pinging pain in your heart makes it seem like the heartbreak is truly going to kill you in a few minutes if you don’t do something about it– you give it a try, because come on… you’d do anything to not feel like this ever again.

Step one – cry it out.

“He was a cunt anyway,” Jihoon mutters as he steps into the living room with two spoons in his hands, throwing one of them to you– while almost managing to hit you in the middle of your forehead in the process, adding a concussion to the mix of problems you have going on right now– and you find yourself furrowing your brows at his hateful comment.

“Why’d you say that?”

“Well, as your best friend, I’m supposed to be on your side, no?” he says as he takes a seat on the sofa next to you, watching as you wrap one of the thick blankets you got for the male around your figure– you bought it mainly for yourself, because his apartment is cold as a freezer and you knew he wouldn’t buy one for you to use in the first place– and shrugs. “Besides, he broke your heart, and any male who does that is a cunt in my eyes.”

“I broke up with him,” you mourn, “so I broke my own heart,” you snicker, despair fully filling you up from the inside– fitting everywhere into your lungs and choking you up from how bad you truly feel. Now, this isn’t your first breakup– you’ve had your fair share of boyfriends in high school (in your baddie era, as Jihoon called it), but Choi Yeonjun from Maths class and Jung Woonyoung, the guy you dated for a total of 2 months over the summer break before he moved away, weren’t exactly boys you found yourself falling in love with. Sure, you liked them, you kissed them and went on dates with them– hell, you even hooked up with Yeonjun once before you realized the relationship truly wasn’t for you– but no one managed to cave into your heart just as much as Mark Lee, your first college boyfriend did.

“But you sure had a reason for it, come on!” Jihoon huffs, taking the tub of ice cream from your hands and opening it for you, since you’ve gotten quite weak from the lack of sleep and nutritions ever since the break up, hands clammy and not cooperating. “You don’t just break up with someone to break your own heart. He did that, that’s why you said goodbye to him,” he says before sitting the enormous tub of ice cream between your two bodies, nudging you to dig into the frozen delicacy.

“Yeah, but–”

“No buts, young lady. We are here to make you forget you ever even dated Mark Lee, so open up, eat the ice cream and focus your attention on Titanic so you can finally cry it out,” he says, and by the tone of his voice, you’d think he’s angry with you. Jihoon has this aura around him that makes you think he’s always at least a little annoyed at everything– but he told you to not mind it and that it’s just his sassy bitch attitude. 

He does have a point, though. You broke up with Mark because he broke your heart first– there was no other reason for it. If it was something minor, something small, you were sure you could work on it. You have, numerous of times before, brought up something and had a mature conversation about it– something you always so admired about Mark, being so cautious and understanding when navigating problems in the relationship– but when you bring up the same thing over and over, and it never gets fixed despite him telling you he’ll try harder next time, you think you’re allowed to feel a little heartbroken at his nonexistent efforts. And that’s exactly why you decided to quit the relationship– after a while, you felt like you were putting in more effort than he was, effectively making you feel like he’s not even that interested in dating you in the first place.

First, he just told you he was forgetful. He forgot he promised to pick you up from class one day– and you said that it’s okay, he is busy, after all– and it was the first time it happened, so you didn’t really mind that much, truly. Then, he forgot about the date you scheduled– but it was fine, because you didn’t have reservations anyway, you could change the day to any other day of the week, after all. He kept forgetting the stuff you told him in between the conversations you shared– and it was small things, you understand, but sometimes, you wondered if he was ever really listening to you at all. 

Forgetful soon turns not interested in your eyes, and when he doesn’t call you in the evening like he promised he would, when he doesn’t show up to the party you invited him to, because he forgot it was that day, you’re one step closer to calling it quits, because each and every one of these situations sends a sharp pain into your stomach. The last straw was just last week, though– and realistically, it was an important day, as much that you thought the day is somehow gonna fix everything, but the truth is somewhere completely else as Mark Lee forgets about your one year anniversary and never shows up at your doorstep for the dinner you prepared for the two of you like he promised he would. 

And it doesn’t click in him two days after either– you don’t even get a text. He got so forgetful over time that he forgot about you completely, and that’s when you took an uber to his place and broke up with him for good.

And even though the breakup was the most painful thing you’ve ever felt yourself go through, Jihoon is right– you’re not the one that broke your own heart. Mark Lee did that for you many times before, and this was just the breaking point.

“Fucking hell, you bought cookies and cream again?” Jihoon huffs when he takes another spoonful of the ice cream into his mouth, eyebrows furrowing at the sweet taste. Looking at him from the corner of your eye, you wipe your left cheek as you hum, immune to his nagging by now.

“You know I hate cookies and cream!”

“You know, Hoon, I bought this for myself. When you’re the one that’s heartbroken, we’ll share your favorite ice cream flavor instead,” you mumble, munching on the coldness on your tongue, sniffling a little when your eyes avert to the TV screen.

And after that, the teasing from your best friend’s side stops. Maybe it’s just because he hates to see you cry– and he rarely gets the chance, if you’re being honest, since you’re pretty good at handling your emotions– but you secretly know that it’s because when he looks back at the TV screen in front of the two of you, the sad part of the movie hasn’t even started yet and the tears are not the result of the movie, but of your own thoughts instead.

Step two – give him back all of his stuff and the stuff he’s given you that reminds you of him. Demand that he does the same.

Now, step two was a thing most couples do when they break up. Realistically, it makes sense– you wouldn’t want stuff that’s not yours just laying around, and also, it’s just bound to remind you of the person you lost. Naturally, you’d want to return it.

“Why does he have to return my things as well?” you mutter under your breath as Jihoon helps you fold all Mark’s hoodies into a cardboard box, alongside with wrapping the little things your ex boyfriend made out of ceramic for you in tissue paper like you asked him to– even though he complained and said that it shouldn’t matter to you if they break, because you are the heartbroken one– but you held those little things too close to your heart to let them get damaged in the first place.

“Because that’s how it works,” Jihoon hums, watching as you throw another one of Mark’s shirts onto the top of his head, shielding his vision. “What, you don’t want your stuff back?”

“I mean…” you mumble, deeply considering of the fact that the thought of getting your stuff back didn’t even cross your mind until now, before you realize your favorite pair of socks is thrown somewhere in Mark’s drawers– the blue ones with peaches on them– and you suddenly have the revelation that while you don’t necessarily need the stuff back, you’d love to wear those socks again. “I guess…” you note as you walk over to Jihoon and take a glance into the full cardboard box, looking over the stuff and chewing on the inside of your cheek.

“It’s like witchcraft, y’know,” Jihoon points out, looking at you with fierce eyes mirroring the stupid idea that just flashed through his brain, “if you don’t exchange the things, a piece of you is still kept at his apartment and you won’t be able to move on.”

And again, Park Jihoon does have psychopathic tendencies, but he may be onto something here. So you listen to him as you nod along and close the cardboard box, ready to drive over to Mark Lee’s apartment and drop off the things you’ve collected from him for the past year. The box includes all of the clothes messily scattered across your drawers and your closet, the picture frame of you two together that you always had on your night stand, the ceramic bowls and a little tiger sculpture he made for you when he took a pottery class with his friend Renjun, and the lost guitar pics you found under your bed and at the very top of your bookshelf from when he used to bring his guitar along and play you songs on rainy afternoons. The only things of Mark’s that you kept were the love letter he gave you for your birthday and the USB with his cover of Justin Bieber’s Off my face on it that he shyly gifted to you on one of your dates; but you would never tell Jihoon that in fear of him getting rid of those most precious memories for you.

It’s good to let go, but you don’t think you’re wrong for wanting to keep something to remind you of the good times. The times you still felt loved by Mark.

“Off we go,” you say, standing up and bringing the box towards your front door, your best friend at your feet. He promised to drive you to Mark’s place– you think he’s worried about you meeting your ex-boyfriend face to face for the first time since the break up, but he said it’s because you’re too broke to Uber all the time, efficiently throwing all the considerate thoughts you were accrediting him out the window– and after a few minutes of the drive, you find yourself standing on the doorstep of Mark Lee's apartment.

Taking a deep breath in and out, almost chickening out with the flood of thoughts and excuses you could say to Jihoon when you come back to his car with the box still in your hands– sayings like “he wasn’t home” or “he didn’t want those back”, the latter stupider than the first– you decide to face your problems head-on and finally knock on the mahogany door, waiting for Mark to answer. And he does– of course he does, because he’s always home, and as his ex-girlfriend of one year, you're painfully aware of the fact– but when that happens, you feel your heart falling all the way down to your stomach, crushing you and suddenly making it hard for you to breathe. 

“Um… hi,” he greets you, voice a little groggy, as if he hasn’t spoken in a while– and when you meet his eyes, the deep chocolate orbs you always found yourself admiring and writing silent odes to in your head, you quickly glance away in fear of staring into them for too long and making decisions you wouldn’t like to make.

“Hi,” you awkwardly greet back, clearing your throat and moving a little in your place, shifting the weight from one foot to the other. You're surprised you're able to keep up with the conversation, thoughts running in your brain faster than you can comprehend them, heartbeat ringing in your ears from the unexpected anxiety. Maybe Jihoon was right and you should've taken a shot before coming here– at least you'd have more courage and social skills clearly needed for this kind of interaction. “I… brought you back your things,” you say, finally looking up at the male and chewing on your lips, letting out an awkward, tense laugh when he stares at you with an empty look, “figured you’d want them back,” you add, watching as the male opens his mouth and closes it in what seems to be shock before he presses his lips tightly together and nods at you.

“Uh, yeah,” he says, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly as he watches you clumsily hold up the cardboard box to him, ready to leave his stuff there with him and escape as fast as you can, not really minding how you'll get back to Jihoon's car– if jumping down the window of the entrance hall is the fastest option, you're ready to get to it. The truth is, everything is starting to get a little too hard to bear– his familiar scent filling your nose, the hoodie he wore to your first date enveloping his figure, his messy hair reminding you of the many times you brushed your fingers through it in attempts to smooth it down. It’s only been two weeks since you last saw him, but it was starting to feel as if you forgot about him already and were now relearning all the things you once fell in love with again, looking at him in the same light, yet noticing him and all the small details a little bit differently. “Thanks, I… I actually, uh… I have your stuff here too, so if you want it back I’ll– I can just–”

“Y-yeah,” you nod, almost a little too eagerly, “that would be… cool,” you say, trying hard to ignore the fact that he had your stuff packed too, intending to give it to you, and the crashing reality that comes with it, telling you he was prepared to do this before you were and how it’s making you feel kind of shitty.

Mark moves further into the apartment, the sound of him dropping the box to the floor filling your ears before he’s back at the door in no time, a similar cardboard box in his hands that he offers to you with a tense smile on his face. “Wanted to bring it around so I had an excuse to see you, but you, uh… beat me to it, I guess…” 

Looking at him as you take the box out of his hands, gaze as if to tell him not to say such words to you when you’re still so fragile to his effect, you only nod and mutter out a simple “Thanks,” before you turn on your heel and intend to take the stairs back down.

“I’ll… see you around, then?” Mark calls after you as you take the first step out– something about it making you feel like it’s the first step out of his life, in a way– and you only nod, because one, you truly don’t know how else to reply to this question, and two, you really, really don’t know if you’ll ever see him again, but you can't bring yourself to say it to his face. Somehow, it would feel like torture to admit it– and you're not prepared for that reality just yet.

Rushing outside and getting into Jihoon's car, you almost feel like you’re on the verge of breaking, and when the male asks you how it went as he’s reversing out of the parking lot, you only bid him a one-word reply before you look through the box on your way home, too impatient to stay back from the memories.

And Jihoon didn’t really think this one through, because the fact that you gave Mark back the things that reminded you of him meant that he did the same, and now all the things you brought along to Mark’s apartment were in the cardboard box, all stained with countless memories and feelings attached to each and every single thing. The artwork you made for him, the little heart-shaped keychain you gave him for his birthday, the plant you gave him that was now long dead and dried out– those were once your stuff, but all in this world with the intention of love being sent out through them to your now ex-lover, and the fact that they’re in your possession again instead of his is not making letting go of Mark any easier. 

And maybe Mark was right and he truly was forgetful, because as you rummage through the contains of the box, while you find out your favorite blue socks are nowhere to be seen, surely still buried somewhere in the drawers of his closet, obliterated out of his memory, there’s a gray hoodie sitting at the bottom and it’s surely not yours– it’s his and it was always your favorite, and you always used to wear it at his place when you got cold or when you just really wanted to smell his cologne, and you suddenly don't know if it's presence in the box slipped his mind or if he truly left it there on purpose. 

Couldn’t he forget about that too?

Step three – block his number.

The third step comes into place after you accidentally slip out to Jihoon about the phone call you get on a Friday night– more like two hours into Saturday already– and now, most of all, you must admit that your best friend might be right about his advice.

Your phone starts ringing at 2:11 AM, and while you weren’t sleeping– you’ve been having some trouble with dozing off without being overbeared with thoughts lately– the name flashing on your screen shocks you for more reasons than one. 

Mark Lee calls you, three weeks after your breakup, in the middle of the night. You haven’t spoken since the time he gave you back your stuff, and even though you’ve done quite a bit of stalking on his social media, you have no news of him or his whereabouts. Naturally, a call from him in the middle of the night startles you and shakes you to the core. He has no reason to call you, so your brain does the math and concludes there must be an emergency– and god knows that even after being hurt by him, you could never ignore him and leave him hanging in a state of need.

So you pick up– with shaky hands and a raging heartbeat, expecting the worst. Listening to the other side of the line, you take a deep breath in and out, bracing yourself for the impact of the words you’re going to hear. The voice on the other side is laced with haziness and his tone is almost a little tired– worn out, even– when he finally greets you from wherever he is.

“Hi,” Mark says, and for a second, your heartbeat steadies itself and the world stops spinning– he sounds okay, and for a moment, you’re grateful to hear his voice.

Humming, as if to collect your thoughts, you clear your throat before you offer him an answer. “Hello,” you greet, “what’s- what’s up?”

“Just wanted to hear your voice,” he says, almost a little abruptly to your question. He doesn't overthink his answer and he doesn't give himself time to think if it's a good idea or not– he just blurts it out and now it's your problem to deal with, when it's there, out in the open. Your palms get sweaty and you start to lose feeling in your fingertips, making you take a few seconds to yourself to process the situation before you decide to finally answer to the strange sentence. 

“It’s late, Mark,” you mumble, and you involuntarily wonder if the sentence doesn’t have double meaning– it's too late for anyone to call at this hour, and at the same time, it’s been weeks since your ex boyfriend lost the privilege of listening to your voice when he can’t sleep in the middle of the night whenever he feels like it– and it’s now too late to do anything about it or make it any easier to deal with.

“Shit, sorry,” he chuckles to himself, and you suddenly recognise the laziness in his voice to be the effect of his and his best friend Hyuck’s Friday endeavors; the sweet coating of his voice being the effect of none other than the momentary bliss that comes with the relaxation of his body and mind when he's high. “Didn’t realize,” he concludes, making you shake your head at him in disbelief– not really mattering that he can’t see you in the act.

“‘s okay,” you mumble– and in your perfect reality, you hang up the phone now. In your perfect reality, you connect it to your charger and close your eyes, calling it a night. You fall asleep with no thoughts rummaging through your brain and wake up in the morning to a new sunny day, ready to take on the responsibilities of what’s to come, having productive days ended with smiles and a hot dinner you make for yourself just because you feel like it. In your perfect reality, you protect your own heart. This is not your perfect reality, though– and that’s why you stay on the line, listening to Mark ramble on the other side of the phone, intoxicated and slightly out of it. You wonder if he’ll remember calling you when he wakes up tomorrow. You wonder if he’ll regret it, or if he’ll just shrug his shoulders at the fact and go on with his day, not really paying you much thought when he’s sober.

“I was with Hyuck just now,” he says, and you hear the rustling of his sheets on the other side of the line, making you wonder if he’s washed up and ready for bed, “and– and I remembered how we all used to hang out together, y’know… you with us all– you always clicked with my friends and it was so cool and stuff… and I realized, right, they’re not as funny when you’re not around… but anyways… Jeno’s girlfriend asked about you, ‘cause she didn’t know…and telling her felt so silly, ‘cause they all kept looking at me and I knew they were pitying me, but it was my fault in the first place–”

“Mark–” 

“No, it’s true. And it’s cool, I don’t– I don’t blame you, or anything. I just… I dunno, I guess it got me wondering…”

The line goes silent on the other side, and you settle into your own bed, giving him time to continue. When he doesn’t say anything for a long time, you wonder if he’s fallen asleep.

“Mark?”

“Hm?”

“You still there?”

“Yeah. How was your day?” he asks, tone of voice casual as ever, as if he’s forgotten about all the words he’s told you up until now–  as if it’s not 2 AM and both of your hearts aren’t breaking at the sound of each other’s voice on the other side of the line.

“It… it was okay, I guess,” you say nonetheless, too hopeless to find a way to end the conversation before he does. 

“That’s good to hear,” he says, sighing, “that’s… awesome. You still taking those yoga classes on Mondays?” he asks, and you snicker to yourself– because what kind of question even is that? Who asks that on a late night call, when there are more important things you two need to talk about?

“Yeah,” you lie, still. You haven’t been since the breakup.

“That’s great. Wouldn’t want you to… y’know,” he laughs to himself, “be too sad over this… ‘t was for the better, after all.”

You hear yourself hum– the noise way more stable than your actual words ever could be– and you find yourself feeling silly in the conversation, lying to your ex boyfriend through your teeth; because at the end of the day, you don’t want him to worry about you– because it seems to be the case that he is. And it’s stupid, because he hurt you and you shouldn’t care, maybe you should’ve even show him that you’re heartbroken and that he is the reason behind your pain and the way your life is falling apart, bit by bit, but you don’t find it in you to be so cold and heartless. At the end of the day, you still care about Mark and there’s nothing you could do about it. Turns out that breaking up with him doesn’t magically make the feelings go away– and you knew that, but now you have proof.

“What were you saying before, by the way? You… trailed off at the end,” you say, reminding him of his previous words.

“Oh, that,” he snickers into the microphone again, a heavy sigh escaping his lips as he twists and turns in the sheets, “don’t worry about it. It was selfish of me.”

It was selfish of him to call in the first place. But you won’t tell him that.

“What was it?”

“It’s just… I was wondering if I lost you forever, y’know… if there was a chance we could ever…” he trails off again, but this time, you don’t bug him to complete it. You’re not stupid– you know the implication of his words. You’ve known him for a long time, after all– maybe you should’ve predicted this when you picked up the call.

“I mean…” you hum, “you didn’t lose me completely, if that’s– if that’s what’s keeping you up at night. We’re still friends, aren’t we?” you say, and in the corner of your brain, you can’t even believe the words yourself– but if it was selfish of him to call, you think it’s okay for you to selfishly fill both of you with empty promises, just for the sake of not breaking your heart even further.

“Yeah,” he mumbles, “that’s– …I’m glad.”

The line’s silent after that, and you wonder if you two have used up the list of words to say to each other this time, if there’s truly no other answer at the end of this conversation. When the situation gets too much for you to bear, the heaviness finally settling on your shoulders and your chest, you finally find the courage to sniffle out a quiet goodbye.

“Good night, Mark.”

“G’night,” he drags out, mind still cloudy. “Love you,” spills out from his tongue, like a bad habit.

He ends the call before you get to say it back. Maybe that’s for the better.

And the truth is, you should’ve really listened to Park Jihoon and blocked Mark’s number after this encounter. But you didn’t– you’re too weak for Mark’s sweet words, finding yourself still hanging on to his saccharine voice and the muffled ramble he has reserved for you only every time he gets high and loses all self-control before calling you on Friday nights selfishly demanding your attention, somehow falling for him like a teenager over and over again despite promising yourself you're gonna move on for real now.

Step four – date someone new.

“So…” Jihoon starts one day, eyes glued to your skull like laser beams, the tone of his voice so incomprehensible you think he’s going to scold you for the actions of your previous days– even though you haven't told him about the midnight calls with Mark and so if he's not going through your phone, he has no way of knowing. Tense and nervous, still, knowing that the impact of his words could either heal you or cut you open like a knife– damn him for always being so brutally honest, no matter how soft his heart is for you– you smile at him with tight lips, crossing your arms on your chest in defense.

“So…?” 

A nervous laugh almost escapes your throat. If Jihoon wasn’t suspicious of you before, he surely is now– or he just finds you strange by the way he furrows his brows at you and scans you up and down, taking a second for himself before he sighs and seemingly decides to drop the weird way you’re acting right now, shaking his head and focusing on the task at hand.

“I was thinking… my friend asked about you,” he says, nonchalantly looking down onto his hands and taking the dirt out from behind his nails, as if it’s not a big deal and he doesn’t even care that much. “Choi Hyunsuk from Biology, you know him– shabby haircut, kinda short, failed the class so he has to retake it this year…?”

“I think you’re forgetting the fact that the two of us have completely different majors, Hoonie,” you sweetly smile at him with irony, making him roll his eyes with a sigh before he tries again.

“The guy who ripped his pants at Xiao Dejun’s party last year?”

“Oh, that one! You should’ve said that earlier, of course I remember Choi Hyunsuk from your Biology class,” you nod hurriedly, the gears finally clicking in your brain.

“As if I wasn’t talking about him for the last few minutes–”

“Okay, and what about him?” you cut him off, already tired of his annoying tangent.

“I said he asked about you.”

“I heard that already,” you nod, looking at him with expecting eyes. “And?”

Jihoon stares at you, unblinking, as if you fell on your head and he’s trying to comprehend if you’re still here with him or if you got a concussion and need to be transferred into a hospital. When the contact of his eyes on your skin gets a bit too uncomfortable– you swear his looks could actually kill someone, if he tried enough– you furrow your brows at him in confusion and shake your head in disbelief.

“Why are you staring at me like that, Park Jihoon?”

“Just tryna see if you’re really that stupid or if you’re just pretending,” he mutters under his nose before he sighs again– his favorite activity whenever you’re around, it seems– and speaks up again, tone of voice reminding you of a kindergartener teacher trying to explain why it gets dark in the evening to a bunch of 4 year olds. “You know, when people ask about you, they are usually interested in you, as in, my friend Hyunsuk didn’t ask because you’re nice, but because you’re hot, if you know what I'm getting onto.”

“Oh,” you get out, eyes wide in concern and a little shaken-up, “well, that’s… nice of him, I guess.”

Jihoon only hums at you before he looks around himself and brings out the bag of chips that he left open by his right side only a few seconds ago, not really speaking more about the topic. It’s either he’s waiting for you to get what he’s hinting at, or he’s just waiting for you to get even more confused and ask him about it in a few seconds again– either way, he’s not the one doing more talking right now, because conversations with you, the most oblivious person he’s ever seen, are never productive if he goes too fast.

Chewing on the chips, his eyes go wide when you finally open your mouth and talk more about the topic at hand– just like he predicted. “Why are you telling me this?”

Your best friend swallows before he places the bag of chips back to its original place and turns his whole body so he’s facing you, speaking up again. “I was thinking that maybe, just maybe, you’d like to hang out with him. Like a date, before you ask– because I know you’re gonna ask– and why? – because, again, I know you’re gonna ask– because I simply think you should try to date again to get your mind off the loser you broke up with two months ago,” he says, blunt and honest, answering all of your unsaid questions at once, and before you know it, he has you snickering and shaking your head in disapproval.

“Absolutely not,” you retort, waving your hands in the air to only further show your disagreement with the proposition, “that would just be a massive catastrophe.”

“Why? Hyunsuk’s nice.”

“I didn’t say he isn’t, it’s just…”

“Just?” he probes you, eyebrows raised and questioning.

“I… don’t know,” you nervously chew on the inside of your cheek, aimlessly shrugging. “I just don’t think it’s a good idea, Jihoon.”

“Because of Mark?” he asks, and the moment his name escapes your best friend’s mouth, the whole room goes strangely quiet– you feel your heartbeat in your throat, the tips of your fingers start tingling and you swear that if you concentrate hard enough, you could feel a bead of sweat drip down your forehead with the incoming stress and nerves only the mention of your ex boyfriend brings you.

“No, that’s not it–”

“Sure,” he nods, sighing to himself– and there it is again, the judging look you so despise.

“You can’t just expect me to date other people a few weeks after my break up, Jihoon,” you exclaim, “that– that wouldn’t even be fair to your friend. You know I wouldn’t be invested,” you explain, and your friend rolls his eyes in frustration, sighing to himself.

“Oh but I know that! And Hyunsuk does too,” he shakes his head at you, “just thought the company of someone else could take your mind off things.”

“I have you,” you try.

“Yeah, but all we do when we’re together is mope about Mark Lee,” Jihoon snickers, “and don’t get me wrong, I’m more than open to bitch about your ex boyfriend and as your best friend, I don’t mind, but the fact that you’d be hanging out with someone else could take your mind off him, because you wouldn’t feel comfortable talking about him with someone else, y’know?”

You shut your eyes closed, a heavy sigh heaving out of your body as you try hard to concentrate and not lose it, and with how Jihoon’s tone gets softer and he’s not as loud with his brutal, yet logical advice, he must feel you getting overwhelmed and accommodates to your needs. “Look, it’s gonna be fun. I promise. Hang out with someone new, feel wanted and hot and pretty again, get some male attention that’s not your ex boyfriend, and you’ll see how it makes you feel. If you hate it, you hate it and you can slap me, I don’t know... If you don’t, you can keep dating around with my friends, and I swear I’ll hook you up only with the nice ones,” he takes your hand into his and waves it around in comfort, making you open your eyes and look at him again.

Seeing the softness and encouragement in your best friend’s eyes, you sigh to yourself. All this time, he’s tried to help you– what if you finally follow his advice? Who knows, it might even help. 

Sighing, you squeeze his palm and hover over him to get the stranded bag of chips he’s guarding on the other side of the sofa. “Fine,” you mutter, “but let your friend know that he’s the one paying, okay?”

“Perfect. I'll text him your number, then.“

And maybe Jihoon was right and after dolling yourself up and dressing up in your favorite dress just so you would feel as comfortable as possible, you don’t feel as bad when his friend Hyunsuk picks you up in his white Volvo and chats with you on the way to the restaurant. He makes good small talk and even gets a giggle out of you, the music in his car is low and you find yourself slowly easing into the situation. You don’t remember when the last time you went out with a guy that wasn’t Mark was, but it’s surprisingly nice. 

And Jihoon was right– you feel pretty. And when Hyunsuk opens the door for you after pulling up to the parking lot of the restaurant, you even feel wanted. You like the attention, just like any other girl would, and the smile you offer to your date seeps of tender shyness as you get out of the comfortable seat of his car. 

The illusion, though, is soon broken as you notice the restaurant he pulled up to. Your smile freezes, your palms get sweaty and you feel your heartbeat rummaging against your ribcage as soon as the idle atmosphere of the restaurant opens up before you. And realistically, you could turn on your heel and get back to the car, tell Hyunsuk that you want to go to another restaurant– but you don’t do it, against your biggest wishes, because you worry that the boy already made a reservation and you don’t want to ruin an evening that’s going well so far.

“Everything alright?” your date checks up on you, seemingly noticing the frown on your face, and when his worried eyes meet yours, it’s sealed– you’d feel too bad for pulling out of the date now. So you only do what you always do best– you put on your best relaxed smile and nod, catching up to him and ensuring him that you’re all okay and you didn’t just talk yourself out of an anxiety attack. 

Because you owe it to him and to Jihoon– both of them worked so hard to make you feel happy and help you to get over your ex boyfriend. It’s not Hyunsuk’s fault that he just managed to pick the restaurant your said ex boyfriend works at part-time. He had no way of knowing, and if you’re lucky enough, Mark wouldn’t be on today. He only works here part-time, it’s not like he’s here every day, and as far as you’re concerned, he only worked like two or three days a week when you dated. It would be a weird coincidence for him to be working the day you go there with your new date– you hope you’re not that unlucky.

Hyunsuk is a gentleman. Opening up doors for you, pulling out the chair for you, letting you talk and not interrupting you. He watches you with fond eyes and you almost try to feel bad for the fact that even if this ended well, the poor boy would just end up being a rebound. He deserves so much more, and you start to worry if this date was a good idea after all. Wasn’t it selfish of you to agree to this? 

“What do you want to get?” he asks as you open up the menu, and you squint at the prices, mentally taking a note to order the cheapest thing just in case he wants to pay for you at the end of the evening. 

“Spaghetti Bolognese,” you blurt out, despite it not being your favorite meal. Hyunsuk just stares at you with squinted eyes, but doesn’t disagree with you. After all, he has no way of knowing that you dislike the taste of the sauce in most restaurants– even though your conscience tells you that Mark knew that and always made sure to remind you about it before ordering for you, worried that you won’t get to eat much that evening– the only thing left to hope is that it tastes good in this particular place. 

“Okay, sure,” he nods and puts the menu down, smiling at you before engaging in a comfortable conversation with you. It feels like you’ve known Hyunsuk forever– his personality oddly reminding you of Jihoon’s caused mainly by the fact that the two have grown up together. Everything flows soundly, but you still find yourself anxiously picking at your cuticles as you cautiously look around the restaurant, fearing the fact that you could catch a glimpse of your ex boyfriend at any second.

And maybe you should be a psychic, because those bad feelings were not there for nothing– when you see a waiter walking out of the back and eyeing your table, ready to get your order, the boy is a few inches taller than your current date, raven hair messy, but still a little styled, dark circles under the man’s eyes, and there he is– your ex boyfriend. Mark Lee halts in his movements, wearing his work uniform, eyes wide, a hint of something that breaks you at least in two mirroring in his orbs before he turns on his heel and disappears in the back again. When he doesn’t come back and his co-worker joins you and Hyunsuk at your table with a warm smile, you stop waiting to see the glimpse of him you selfishly desired to catch despite fearing the interaction the whole evening.

You want to fall through the floor and disappear in the depths of this earth. For some reason, you feel mortified. What would he think? And why do you even care about his feelings? A million different thoughts run through your brain and you worry that you’re being too distant from your current date, but Hyunsuk’s warm eyes reassure you that he doesn’t mind. 

Piercing the food on your table with your eyes, you try to battle the noisy words running around your brain. 

It’s easy to say you’re over someone when you don’t see them. To have them in front of you, meet their gaze and acknowledge their existence and still be able to nod and say that you’ve moved on, is something completely different. 

Were you ever convinced that you were over Mark Lee in the first place, though?

After all of this– the months of following Jihoon’s advice, although making a few mishaps along the way as you continue to pick up Mark’s calls on Friday nights, snoop around his socials and let your mind wander to places it shouldn’t, overthinking everything and making you wish the relationship never ended in the first place– it’s time for the last step of it all. The last, most crucial part of this whole moving on process– the most important one, if you may.

Step five – avoid him at all costs.

Sounds easy, right? After the four previous steps, you’d already cried plenty about the lost months with your ex-boyfriend. You’d already given him back all of his stuff, not tying yourself to him with any material memory. You’d already gone on a date with someone new, choosing to distract yourself instead of letting yourself feel the emotions. After all the previous steps, this one’s supposed to be the easiest one. The one you’re supposed to want to do, after all. The break-up wasn’t messy, but it was still painful– it’s only natural for you to not want to see Mark ever again, right?

Wrong.

Because you never listen to the advice you’re given. That just wouldn’t be you, would it?

And so when Mark Lee calls you one day and tells you that he has a free train ticket to the Bukhansan stop, explaining that he was supposed to go hike there with Donghyuck who canceled on him last minute because of an assignment due midnight, you don’t really hesitate much before you shoot him a short text saying that you’re down and get ready for the short hike. 

When you meet your ex boyfriend at the station, his figure slightly slouched up until the moment his eyes meet yours, you feel the quiet tension in the air. You’ve seen each other a few times before this meeting– on a party you went to with Jihoon, at the campus when you went to class one morning, your ex boyfriend walking you towards the Art building, hell, you’ve even met in the grocery store, all accidental and making your heart leap in your chest with tension. This time, though, you’re here completely intentionally, just to hang out with him, and something about the fact makes a dull pain shoot all through your intestines, a sensation so uncomfortable you try to hide with a tight-lipped smile. 

“Ready for the hike?” he asks, adjusting the bag on his back, playing with the straps with clammy fingers. You can’t help but notice how he looks just like a little boy, in his little world, shielded from everything. He seems to have taken a protective stance, and you hate how the air between you shifted from how you two used to be when you were dating. Mark seems scared. Nervous. On top of his feet. Maybe you shouldn’t have agreed to this at all.

You’re already here, though. Turning around and leaving wouldn’t really work right now, as you take a step towards the train that’s just arrived, humming to your ex boyfriend in agreement. Taking a seat on the place Mark’s pointed to you on the train ticket, you try to loosen up your muscles and get as comfortable as you can, clearing your mind as you gaze outside of the window.

“How have you been?” he asks, clearing his throat.

Pressing your lips into a tight line, you turn to him as you search for an answer. “Better,” you nod, voice quiet. “You?”

Mark hums, chewing the inside of his cheek. “Good, good,” he lies through his teeth, “I’ve seen you at the restaurant the other day,” he hints, and you battle the sigh that’s begging to cut out of your throat. You don’t know where he’s going with the sentence. It’s not a question– only a proposition, barely even that– and you could ignore it with a nod of your head, you could pay it no mind as you see the bitterness in his gaze and the slightly self-conscious averting of his stare. You don’t know where he’s going with the conversation, but frankly, you don’t know where you are going with your answer either, as you shrug to him in a casual manner and peep under your breath.

“Yeah,” you say, “that was just… Jihoon’s friend from uni, I suppose,” you complete, and the sentence hints at nothing– it doesn’t clear out the confusion, it doesn’t outright say anything that could make Mark believe that it was just a casual hang-out with a friend, but still, you see the boy visibly relax as he nods to you and offers you a tight-lipped smile.

“Oh,” he hums, looking out of the window, past the profile of your face. The change in topic is sudden and sharp, but also welcome as he falls into a casual conversation with you, and suddenly, you’re reminded by the Mark you once knew– the guy you’ve once called not socially awkward, but so social that it’s awkward– as he talks to you about his day and rambles on about the weather. “It’s good that it won’t rain today, I bet the view will be nice.”

Locking your gaze with him for a brief second, you lick your lips and point your eyes towards the ground. It’s good that it won’t rain today, as opposed to last time you two went to the Bukhansan trail. You wonder if he remembers.

Before you have a chance to mention it– and in all reality, you won’t, no matter how bold you could be feeling at the moment– the train comes to a stop at your station and you hop out of the carriage, ready for the hike.

It’s easy to forget how messed up things have gotten between the two of you when you walk alongside with your ex boyfriend, laughing at his silly jokes and gasping at everything he shows to you with a pointed finger, finding yourself admiring the sound of his giggle when he spots a squirrel pass your path somewhere near the top of the hill. The trail is almost empty at this hour, since the two of you have decided to go in the late afternoon, and you find your soul to finally be at peace after so many weeks, you finally feel relaxed in the nature, one with the wind and the gentle sound of birds chirping lullying your running thoughts to a rest. 

You realize that this is just what you needed all this time. You needed to get out and walk for some while, to tune out yourself and to accept the fact that you’re still here, for another day, and something about that is still a blessing. Watching the back of Mark’s head as he walks a step in front of you due to the narrowness of the trail in this area, you smile to yourself. It’s easy to forget just how much you were hurt by him when he heals your soul with such a simple gesture. It’s easy to forget you were hurt when he seemingly tries to put all the broken pieces back together, glue them to where they were in the first place, when things were easier and you both didn’t have so many things to worry about. 

You reach the top just as the sun starts setting over the horizon, and there are only a few people scattered across the peak, sitting on their own picnic blankets and gazing into the distance. The hues of the sky paint the world in a different color, the oranges, pinks and muted purples playing with your heartstrings as you come to a halt and crouch down and feel the presence of another soul mirror your actions only a meter away to your right, his gaze glued to your side. The view is beautiful, but the feeling of being watched isn’t ignorable anymore, and so you turn to your companion and raise your eyebrows at him, wondering if he has something to say.

You don’t know how you’ll be able to come back to your life after this and pretend you still don’t want to spend every passing second with the man on your right. You don’t know how you’re supposed to ignore the ever so growing love for him– even though after being so disappointed with the past, the feelings should be decreasing, not doing the opposite– and frankly, you don’t even want to think of going back to the way it’s been for the past few months. And so you don’t– you allow yourself to indulge the moment, to ignore the pain that’s about to come, just so you could hold another beautiful memory to your heart and enjoy the moment before it hurts you to think of it tomorrow morning. 

“It’s even more beautiful than the last time,” Mark hums, but his eyes never leave your figure– if you were still dating, you bet he’d come out with a cheesy line about how you’re prettier than the view, or something. “It didn’t rain this time around, thank god.”

Gazing at him, you shake your head in disbelief. Scoffing, you play with the grass between your fingers. “You remember that?”

“Yeah,” he hums, “I remember a lot of things.”

The sentence makes you bitterly chuckle. He knows why you’re reacting the way you are– and you have every right to. He claims to remember a lot of things, but the ones important to you, the ones you wanted him to remember, he failed to save into his memory. And that’s eventually what made you break up with him, at the end of it all.

At your reaction, he sighs and drags a hand across his face, seemingly realizing the weight of his own words and just how ridiculous he must have sounded to you right now. 

“I- That-” he stutters, shaking his head, “that sounded stupid right now, considering… everything… Didn’t it?”

“Kind of,” you nod, not wanting to meet his eyes. 

“I’m sorry,” he blurts out, voice suddenly raw and serious, so different to the tone he’s been using with you the whole afternoon, “I don’t- I can’t remember if I said that back then, when you- when you… broke up with me, but I really am sorry, Y/N. You didn’t deserve that, and I am in no way shape or form trying to make this about me, but I hate myself every day for the way things turned out and if I could go back to that day, I’d do so many things differently.”

The sky in front of you deepens in reds and you taste iron on your tongue, suddenly hyper-aware of the fact that you’ve managed to bite on your lip too hard in the midst of the conversation. Tearing out stems of grass with your clammy fingertips, you focus on the clouds running through the sky, calculating your next response.

“Okay,” you nod, not giving him much else. The answer perfectly encapsulates the way you feel on the inside right now– you don’t know if you’re ready to accept his apology, if you’re ready to let go of it and act like you weren’t hurt or that none of it ever happened, but you listened to him and you internalized his words. He is sorry. He knows he was in the wrong. And you were aware that he knew all of this before– hell, you’d even go as far as say he knew it the moment you knocked on his door that day and told him it was over– but hearing it from him surely moved something inside of you to a more comfortable place.

“I-” he starts, voice breaking making him clear his throat before he continues, “I don’t expect you to forgive me. And I know I shouldn’t have expected you to still be my friend after all of this, and that- I shouldn’t have even called you so many times and approached you at the store and stuff, but um-” he mumbles, shrugging to himself, “I guess I just couldn’t stay away from you. And again, I don’t expect you to forgive me, I don’t expect you to do anything, really. So… yeah…”

Snickering at his aimless monologue, you shake your head in disbelief. “Mark?”

“Yeah?” he stares at you, eyes a bottomless pool of emotion.

“Why did you invite me here today? What was the… point, I guess?” you ask, hugging your knees to your chest as the breeze makes goosebumps appear all over your body. 

Mark offers you a sad smile, head leaned to his right as he shrugs, and this time, his eyes don’t leave yours as he spills the truth into the air. “I guess I was just feeling selfish today,” he hums, and the sentence makes you cringe with the memory of his first call to you after your break up, “wanted to spend time with you.”

“Here, of all places?”

“Yeah,” he nods, “told you. I was feeling selfish.”

Snickering, you look away, staring at the sky again. The colors are starting to blend together into a deep, dark purple– the horizon darkening as the sun starts to say its final goodbyes to the day. You sigh to yourself, yet feel no bitterness or terror at his words. Somehow, you understand. Somehow, you get him a little too well. Somehow, you think you knew the moment he texted you today, and somehow, you think you felt it in your bones when you didn’t say no, although you could have. There’s calmness in your soul when you nod at the implication of his words, leaning back on your elbows and plopping your bottom to the ground, sitting at the dusty surface. 

“You said you didn’t expect anything out of me today, Mark.”

“And I don’t,” he says, voice soft. 

“And you brought me here to remind me of the last time we went?” you stare at him, a hint of a bitten-back smile playing with your lips. “Because you’re selfish?” 

He nods, not escaping your gaze. “To remind you of the last time we went. To show you that… I remember, I guess. And that I still care, just like the last time. If not more.”

“Mark, you can’t just say all of this and expect nothing out of me right now,” you mutter.

“Actually, I can. Because that’s what I’m doing. I’m just… laying it out in the open, and what you do with the information is completely, completely up to you,” he explains, and you find yourself chuckling at him, the atmosphere instantly lighter as you hear his voice in its usual casualness, talking to you as if he was just unpacking what went on in class today, and not the starting and the end of your one year relationship.

And he’s right. What you do with the information is completely up to you, and the next steps and the progress of your relationship with Mark Lee is also completely in your hands. You could turn away and never talk to him again, you could curse at him and tell him that it’s too late now and he missed his chance, but if that was the case, you wouldn’t be here in the first place. He wouldn’t be inviting you to this place, lying about his roommate canceling just to trick you into going, and you wouldn’t be blindly accepting the invitation, wanting to see where the afternoon brings you. 

“So you still care about me?” you hum, looking at him from under your eyelashes, noticing his slouched-over pose as he looks back at you over his shoulder.

“Always have,” he admits, “never stopped. Despite not really… acting like it in the past few months.”

“Why’d you stop acting like it, then?” you ask.

A sigh escapes his lips, his head turning forward before he leans back and sits cross-legged on the ground, more comfortably now. Shrugging, he answers the question. “I guess I just got too caught up with different things. And don’t get me wrong, you were always my priority, always, but I was all over the place with everything and my mind just couldn’t… there were too many things to keep up with and I couldn’t stay up to date with everything,” he says, “and I know it’s not an excuse, but it’s an explanation, and it doesn’t make it better or undo the pain I’ve caused you, but it’s… at least you know it was never because I’d care about you any less.”

His eyes bear into yours with such honesty you think the weight of the world will crash on you any minute, and suddenly, the whole situation seems so much clearer.

And you wouldn’t take it back, you wouldn’t undo the breakup or do anything differently, because at the end of the day, you think it was needed. Perhaps the time apart was what he needed as a wake up call and what you needed to shield yourself from hurting more. 

“Stop me from saying it if you… if you don’t want to hear it right now,” he hums, voice barely louder than a whisper. There seems to be a silent communication between the two of you, a connection of some sort that brings out the strange telepathy, but you just nod at him, a gentle smile playing with your lips as you understand exactly what he means, telling him that it’s okay and that you don’t mind– you welcome, you need to hear him say it again.

Licking his lips, he turns to you fully, facing you. There’s not a hint of nervousness in his body, having done this a lot of times before, and then it happens– the repeated confession, confirming what was there the whole time, never leaving even when the times were rough. 

“I love you,” he says.

And isn’t that all that’s needed? 

A year is a long time with someone. Somehow, you wouldn’t want the time to go to waste. At the end of the day, if love is still present, isn’t it worth trying? One more time?

“And you still don’t expect anything from me?” you ask, gazing at him softly. “You don’t expect me to say it back?”

“No,” he breathes out, shrugging. “I just needed to get it off my chest.”

“Because you’re selfish like that,” you nod, teasing him. 

“Because I’m selfish like that,” he agrees, breaking out into a slight grin.

Looking at the sky, now completely dipped in dark purple, you sigh to yourself at the turmoil of the conversation. You don’t say it back– although you feel it, you know it’s in there, playing with your heartstrings and clenching the muscle in the palm of its hand– you know love is there, deep inside, for the man that’s currently staring at you as if you hung the very stars appearing on the sky there yourself, stolen them from your own eyes and gluing them there selflessly, for everyone to see. You don’t tell him you love him back, you don’t tell him you forgive him or accept his apology. You don’t worry about what tomorrow will bring you, what your brain is going to tell you when you come down from the hill and get home, lay in your bed and overthink. You let the worries escape you, letting fondness and calm envelope you in a tight hug instead.

“Okay,” you nod, watching the boy next to you look at you with curious eyes. You take his hand into yours and place it on your thigh, playing with his fingers for a heartbeat before you meet his eyes again and smile. “I won’t say it back, but for all it’s worth, Mark… I’m glad you remembered.”

And that’s all he needs– there is love, there is fondness, and there is the silent confirmation that all you need right now is just a bit more time. 

Where do broken hearts go?

Somehow, you think they hold on to the place where it all started. Somehow, you think your heart never went anywhere– it stayed on this hill, waiting for you to pay it a visit and pick back up everything right from where you left it.

“It doesn’t seem like a good idea to go here today, Y/N,” Mark laughed behind you as he looked up to the sky, the dark clouds shielding the sun that had been previously shining down on your hiking figures, casting an orange glow on the strands of your hair. 

“Well, there’s no turning back now,” you shrugged, turning to him and grinning as you tugged on his hand, grip strong as you dragged the boy up the trail, your sneakers fast against the dirty ground. “We have finals starting next week and it’s gonna be too cold to go after the exam season is over, so we gotta go now.”

“I kind of regret telling you that I’ve never been here before now,” Mark sighed, but followed you nonetheless, breathlessly following your excited stride. It was October, the leaves on the trees were welcoming the two of you in shining colors, and the wind kissing your skin turned a bit chilly in the evenings– courtesy of the warm hoodie Mark shyly lended you when you shivered for the first time, adoring the way you, his friend, looked in the light gray fabric. Something about you wearing his clothes made the boy a bit hopeless about the day. Maybe he’ll have enough courage to confess his feelings to you, he thought. Maybe, despite the first raindrops falling on the skin of his bare arms, this evening will have a happy ending for you and him. 

“Oh, please,” you squinted at him, continuing to run up the hill– thank god it wasn’t that steep, serving both of you as the perfect hiking difficulty, “even if you wouldn’t have, I’d drag you here anyway. It’s like, my favorite place to go in Seoul, haven’t I told you before?”

You have, Mark thought. But he was okay with hearing it again. 

You squealed when the raindrops got heavier and the rain started pouring faster on the two of you, and Mark found himself laughing at your running figure. He was right behind you, praying that you don’t slip on one of the rocks and break your leg on the hiking trail, but he encouraged you with sweet comments and a hand on the small of your back as he watched the tip of the hill appear right in front of his very eyes, your body coming to a satisfied halt when you reached your destination.

“Tada!” you grinned at him, twirling a little like a ballerina, showing him the place with outstretched arms. He tried hard to observe the place, but his eyes stayed glued to your excited figure, gaze bearing into yours as you looked at him, amidst a little flustered, with sparkly orbs and a bright smile on your face. Your hair was a mess, his gray hoodie enveloping your body was slowly growing darker in color from absorbing the rain, and your sneakers were getting a bit muddy from walking around the place. He wanted to remember this moment forever, he thought– this version of you, the smiley expression on your face, the carefree and excited nature of your step. 

“Isn’t it beautiful?” you exclaimed, jumping around and nearing the boy, but as you went to take his hand to drag him around the top of the hill once more, your feet slipped and you fell forward, a surprised squeak battling its way out of your throat.

Your whole life flashed in front of your very eyes in that moment, embarrassment spreading down your neck at the fact that you were about to fall face first onto the ground in front of your crush of a few months, before your body collided with a soft, yet firm mass engulfing you closer. A pair of strong arms steadied you against his chest, and when you looked up at your friend, you swear all words were taken out of your dictionary, the sight leaving you speechless.

“It is,” he gaped, eyes bearing into yours. Mark was agreeing with you, but something in the back of your head was telling you that he didn’t really admire this place as much as you did– his curious gaze was always plastered somewhere completely else. 

That place being your face, of course. And your eyes, your cheeks, the mess of your bangs, and occasionally– screw that, almost always– your lips. Much like in that moment, a few centimeters away from his face, so inviting he thought it would be a crime to contain the urge. 

And so he didn’t– he didn’t control his feelings and the ever-so growing yearning for you, as he silently leaned towards your face and captured his lips with yours in a firm, yet short kiss.

He looked at you with a nervous tint behind his gaze when he leaned away, the sight of your wide eyes staring at him making a slight flush grow on his cheeks. You looked so beautiful in that moment– flustered, surprised, with messy hair and lips still apart– and he was relieved to not find a hint of a displeased emotion in your expression. 

“Okay, so- well-” you stuttered, laughing to yourself, “this didn’t go as I planned, but I guess I’m happy as long as the final result is the same,” you hummed, standing on your tippy-toes and pressing your lips against him once more, this time letting yourself enjoy the moment fully, mouth moving against his in a careful, yet excited rhythm. He tasted like the strawberry candy you offered him on the bottom of the trail and smelled a bit like rain, the mixture always staying in the depths of your mind as his warmth enveloped you in comfort and a feeling of home.

“The final result being…?” he asked when you pulled apart once again, a dazed expression overtaking his sharp features.

“Us,” you shrugged, “like this,” you clarified.

Mark laughed at that, hugging you closer to his chest. You rested your head on his shoulder, listening to the sound of raindrops washing away the top layer of dirt off the rocks on the tip of the hill, hands sneaking around his waist and enjoying the way they wrapped around him so tightly and so comfortably. You in his hoodie, in your favorite place, standing in his arms. It was raining, but it didn’t matter.

“Mark?” 

“Hm?” 

“If we ever get lost, or something happens… bring me back here, okay?” you mumbled close to his ear, lips gently glazing the skin of his ear, making goosebumps appear all over your new lover. “I’m convinced that this place could fix everything.”

“Even us?” 

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re not allowed to ever leave me now, what would there be to fix between us?” you smacked his shoulder, snickering to yourself.

“You never know,” he laughed, “what if I accidentally mess up somewhere along the way?” he asked, threading his fingers through your hair, smoothing down the wet mess.

“Okay then,” you hummed, “even us.”

Staring into your eyes, letting the moment play out by itself, Mark swore he’s never felt more at peace. He wondered if it was the effect of the place, the rain, or just your sheer presence.  “I’ll remember that,” he giggled before he let go of your body, petting your head as he took a hold of your hand, tugging you down from where you came from, “now let’s go home before we catch a cold.”

Nodding, following the man as you both carefully, yet fastly made it down the trail, you enjoyed the way his hand fit into yours and the way you knew that after this, you can’t ever come back to being friends with Mark Lee. He was all yours, completely, utterly yours, and you knew in the back of your head, that you were his– and nothing will ever change that.

You would always come back to the hill with him. It felt ridiculous to think about you two ever having to fix anything between the two of you back then, but even in that moment, you knew that for him, you’d keep trying. As long as he does– as long as he remembers.

Where do broken hearts go? You guess they always come right back to the place they come from– and they leave glued back together every single time.

You guess your heart never really left the hill.

#bjnet #nct #nct dream #nct 127 #mark #mark lee #nct dream x reader #nct dream angst #nct dream fluff #mark lee x reader #mark lee angst #mark lee fluff #mark angst #mark fluff #nct 127 x reader #nct 127 angst #nct 127 fluff #mark lee oneshot #mark oneshot #nct oneshot #nct dream oneshot #nct 127 oneshot

[81folklore]

older - CL16

pairings: charles leclerc x male!singer!reader (fc: luke hemmings)

summary: singer yn ln releases a love song with his boyfriend, and the public are not prepared for who it is about

authors note: this has been on my mind for SO LONG. i honestly dont like how many fics ive been doing on the same people (charles, lando etc) but whenever i go to start a new one on my list for someone else i think of something that i have to do😭 also in this reader is not a part of 5sos but close friends with the 3, wfttwtaf is readers album and older is exclusivly the readers song

authors note 2: i wanted to quickly clarify i am NOT speculating that charles or luke are gay/queer and this is not my intentions. luke obviously sings older and i find it easier to visualise it this way, while the reader in this is male, this could also be read as gn!reader. this is FICTION please do not tkae this as me speculating anything

authors note 3: i didnt really know what i was doing with this so its kind of all over the place and very rushed :/ but then again when arent my smau all over the place?? also can you tell i hate writing comments by the way i just dont😭

masterlist

yourusername

liked by pierregasly, ashtonirwin and 818,937 others

we started this song together back in 2020 and picked it back up at the end of 2022

'Older' was originally a voice memo of a 50’s-style love song that we wrote together, then forgot about. when thinking of concepts for my debut album i stumbled across the memo and fell in love with it all over again, but i put it aside yet again as to me, it deserved more than the album

the song has changed a lot from the original voice memo, but the meaning has stayed the same throughout. despite all the beauty, the ups and downs of a long-term relationship over many years, there’s inevitably going to be the worst moment of your love because one of you is going to lose each other

capturing those feelings in a song was tricky but ultimately we wrote from the heart and i think it shows in the song itself

this has always been a song between us, so having him play on this song was very importnt to me and im glad he said yes

older is now yours

comments on this post have been limited

yourusername

liked by landonorris, calumhood and 1,727,338 others

im very pleased to announce a very special one off show at the Royal Albert Hall in London this November 18th. I will be playing a bunch of tracks from my debut album and may be joined to play some others aswell! Tickets on sale this monday at 10 am BST. Lots of love always, yn x

comments on this post have been limited

yourusername

liked by 5sos, charles_leclerc and 2,719,936 others

thank you for an incredible night at the royal albert hall

looking back at the best night of my life, i need to thank each and every one of you who allowed this dream to come true, i will never be able to thank you guys enough

performing in my dream venue, with my favorite people in the world was something i never thought was possible and yet here i am, writing this still on my high from last night

thank you to my friends; michael, ashton and calum who took the time to come to london and perform their songs with me, thank you for always loving me and agreeing to my crazy ideas

to my team and everyone who worked to make this night as special as it could be, thank you. thank you for making my htoughts a reality and making this night as wonderful as possible

thank you to the staff who worked throughout the show to make sure everyone was safe, well and looked after. you truly do not get as much credit as you deserve and i apreciate the hard work you put in to keep everyone happy

thank you to those who joined me, i wish each and every one of you who wanted to could have been there. thank you for singing along and listening to me pour my heart and soul into my music

thank you for letting me do this x

view comments

user55: not the pcd hitting already☹️

user1: and im supposed to pretend i didnt see yn and 5sos perform os/co??

user89: CHARLES?? YN IS DATING CHARLES??

user91: AND HE CAME ON STAGE?? AND THEY PERFORMED OLDER??

user50: i cant believe i saw this all happen live

user47: THANK YOU TO WHOEVER WAS RUNING THE GRAINY LIVESTREAM I OWE YOU MY LIFE🧎🧎🏻‍♀️🧎🏻‍♀️

ashtonirwin: thank you for everything yn. youre a real life angel

user16: NO CHARLES MENTION??

user9: BESTIE HE HAS A WHOLE POST

yourusername

liked by charles_leclerc, pierregasly, michaelclifford and 3,619,273 others

after having time to process this show, I feel so overcome with gratefulness. my music means so much to me and seeing so many people resonate with it in a live space was so special for me.

charlie, my life would literally fall apart without you and this would have never happened without you giving me the confidence to do so, i hold so much love and admiration for you

thank you for joining me on such a special night and performing our song with me, thank you for sticking with me through it all and thank you for allowing me to share this part of my life with you

i sometimes wonder where i would be if i didnt find you, if i wasnt blessed with your love. i try to think about the times before you, before us, but both feel impossible to do after feeling your love

life with you is so special and i promise to always cherish and love you

merci de m'avoir laissé vieillir avec toi, merci de m'avoir laissé t'adorer, merci de m'avoir choisi (thank you for letting me get old with you, thank you for letting me adore you, thank you for choosing me)

yn x

tagged: charles_leclerc

comments on this post have been limited

charles_leclerc: mon ange, je t'aimerai toujours (my angel, I will always love you)

charles_leclerc: je suis tellement privilégiée d'être celle que tu aimes🤍🤍 (I'm so privileged to be the one you love)

yourusername: vieillir avec toi ne semble pas si effrayant🖤🖤 (growing old with you doesn't seem so scary)

#f1 x reader #f1 instagram au #f1 smau #f1 social media au #social media au #formula 1 insta au #formula 1 social media au #charles leclerc x reader #charles leclerc insta au #charles leclerc social media au #charles leclerc #formula one x reader #x male reader #f1 x male reader

[diorsluv]

casual , part 3

“ i’ve heard so many rumors ”

series m. list previous chapter next chapter

( socialmedia!au )

yourusername

liked by mackie.samo, jackhughes, and 259,226 others

yourusername post workout glow 🙈

view all comments

vivianliu mommy

→ yourusername whaaaaaat ⁉️⁉️⁉️

→ _quinnhughes …

→ rutgermcgroarty 📸📸

→ edwards.73 wtf

→ jackhughes no absolutely not

→ luca.fantilli HUH

→ dylanduke25 WHAT

→ vivianliu stop acting like i’ve never said ts before 🙄

edwards.73 you’re really fucking hot

liked by yourusername

→ lhughes_06 FUCK NO

→ jackhughes STEP THE FUCK BACK

→ _quinnhughes hey man what the FUCK

→ vivianliu GET THE HELL AWAY FROM MY GIRL

username14 ETHANS COMMENT?????!?!?!?!?!?!

markestapa pretty girl 🫣

→ yourusername that’s so unnatural stop

→ markestapa just doing what the homies do

→ lhughes_06 did the lack of my presence fuck with your heads because i explicitly told everyone to NOT mess w my sister.

→ markestapa suck it up lil bro

mackie.samo GODDAMN

→ yourusername LMFAOOOO

→ jackhughes back the hell up dude

→ _quinnhughes this is a literal fever dream

username54 rumors aint rumors anymore

username38 ethan’s practically screaming their relationship status to the world rn

colecaufield i’m not a part of this in any way but you genuinely look really good rosie

→ yourusername awwww thank you ☺️

→ jackhughes if you ever fucked around with my sister i would punch you in the face

→ colecaufield I HAVENT AND I WONT I SWEAR

→ jackhughes YEAH U BETTER NOT CUZ IM READY 🤺

sidneycrosby_87_ looking great kiddo!

→ yourusername oh my god sidney crosby.

→ lhughes_06 OH MY GOD SIDNEY CROSBY???

→ jackhughes this isn’t fair

→ vivianliu HI SIDNEY

rutgermcgroarty 🥴

→ yourusername 🤭

→ lhughes_06 i can’t tell if you’re flirting because you’re best friends or if you’re flirting to fuck

→ rutgermcgroarty whaaaaa i would never do such a thing and you know that luke (my door is open yourusername)

→ yourusername we’re flirting AS A JOKE because you’re gone now and you can’t dictate shit anymore 🙄 lhughes_06

username45 LMFAO did ethan ask everyone to say shit to cover his comment

mackie.samo i see you’re working out without me now 🤨

→ yourusername YOU LEFT ME. what was i supposed to do 😔😔

→ mackie.samo YOU WEREN’T SUPPOSED TO MOVE ON

→ yourusername IM HAPPIER NOW 🤬

→ markestapa what is this 😟

adamfantilli woha

→ adamfantilli owah

→ adamfantilli woah

→ yourusername are you malfunctioning

→ adamfantilli yes (i was told to)

jackhughes did you redecorate your room??

→ yourusername yes my man helped me redecorate 🥰

→ jackhughes YOUR MAN????

→ lhughes_06 WHO THE HELL

→ yourusername guys it was a joke..

→ lhughes_06 your life is a joke

→ yourusername ?!???!????!

_quinnhughes i know who it is.

→ yourusername no u dont

→ lhughes_06 TELL ME

→ jackhughes WHO IS IT

→ trevorzegras congrats to the only hughes brother with a brain 🥳

→ jackhughes HEY

→ lhughes_06 NOT COOL TREVOR

→ rutgermcgroarty the fact that it took you this long is concerning

→ markestapa okay she ACTUALLY told you rutgermcgroarty

→ dylanduke25 fr the rest of us had to find out DIFFERENTLY

→ edwards.73 you guys are kinda slow

username55 i know someones gonna come back for this post tn…

→ username97 LMFAOOO

→ username21 STOP DONT EXPOSE HIM LIKE THAT

username38 UR SO PRETTY

username30 GIRLLLL give us the workout routine please 😞🙏

username88 body goals hello????

trevorzegras ur bed was not in that corner last time i was there

→ yourusername i redecorated we already said so 🙄

→ jackhughes since when were you in my sister’s apartment??

→ trevorzegras i was in town for a game

→ jackhughes but detroit is 45 mins away????

→ trevorzegras WE WERE THERE FOR THREE DAYS

→ yourusername jack he was helping me set up my ikea dresser 😭😭

→ vivianliu i know someone’s absolutely LIVID

dylanduke25 WOW SO PRETTY

→ yourusername THANK U DUKER

→ dylanduke25 YOU’RE WELCOME

username96 help i audibly screamed when i saw this post

yourusername

liked by markestapa, _alexturcotte, and 153,256 others

yourusername some of the guys invaded girls night at 12 in the morning and then literally kicked us out of my own room ⁉️⁉️

tagged: vivianliu, markestapa, g.brindley4, rutgermcgroarty, dylanduke25, luca.fantilli

view all comments

edwards.73 why was i not invited

→ yourusername u didn’t come idk i thought u were busy like always

→ edwards.73 but you know i would never be too busy for you

→ yourusername lmao doesnt really seem like it tho

vivianliu and they burnt our fucking cookies

→ yourusername FR almost burnt the apartment down 🙄

→ dylanduke25 THAT WASN’T EVEN US

→ vivianliu U KNOW DAMN WELL THAT WAS U AND RUT

→ rutgermcgroarty WHY ARE U BLAMING ME???

g.brindley4 oh my god i’m on the main

→ yourusername YOU’RE ON THE MAIN ‼️

username38 mark wearing sunglasses in a dark ass room 😭

dylanduke25 rut’s ass was in my face and i swear he fucking ripped ass like three times

→ yourusername HELLO WHAT??? I DONT REMEMBER THIS

→ rutgermcgroarty I LITERALLY DIDNT THO??

→ luca.fantilli i could smell that shit from the other room

→ g.brindley4 the absolute STENCH

username32 luca could not have been comfortable sleeping in that position 😭

→ username80 men are weird

username67 AHHH PINK COOKIES

luca.fantilli cuddling with the homies 🥴🥴

→ yourusername oh my god

→ markestapa 😘

→ dylanduke25 im blushing ☺️☺️

→ g.brindley4 best couple!

→ rutgermcgroarty 😝

→ vivianliu you’re all so weird

trevorzegras marky lookin kinda cute tn 🫣

→ yourusername STOP

→ markestapa yes i’ll go out with you!

mackie.samo um. i facetimed him and hes kicking, screaming and crying?!?!?

→ yourusername oops

→ mackie.samo yeah what a big fucking oops 🙄

→ vivianliu HES THE TOXIC ONE

username77 getting kicked out of your own room is crazy

username48 ethan’s definitely punching the air rn

_alexturcotte what happened to the boyfriend

→ yourusername technically he’s not my boyfriend cuz he doesn’t like labels!

→ colecaufield 😭😭

→ yourusername HIS WORDS NOT MINE

→ trevorzegras imagine what’ll happen when your brothers find out 😂

→ yourusername 1. for the love of god stop using that emoji and 2. they wont find out!

→ _quinnhughes i found out

→ yourusername besides you 😒😒

username79 ethan’s definitely regretting not putting a label on them

username92 do luke and jack never check the comments 😭😭

→ vivianliu they did but rosie gaslighted them into believing it’s not ethan and they barely pay attention to what the others say anyways

→ username60 LMAOOO

lhughes_06 WE NEVER HAD SLEEPOVERS WHEN I WAS THERE WHAT??

→ yourusername i’m the better sibling

→ vivianliu correct

→ rutgermcgroarty correct

→ edwards.73 correct

→ colecaufield correct

→ adamfantilli correct

→ trevorzegras correct

→ _alexturcotte correct

→ markestapa correct

→ luca.fantilli correct

→ mackie.samo correct

→ dylanduke25 correct

→ _quinnhughes not correct????

→ jackhughes INCORRECT TF

edwards.73 I CAN’T GET OVER THE FACT THAT YOU DIDN’T INVITE ME

→ yourusername IM SORRY I GEN THOUGHT U WERE JUST BUSY AGAIN

→ markestapa there’s no way you’re still on this

→ edwards.73 inv me next time 😔

next chapter notes ) happy april fools dayyy!! hope yall got some good pranks in 😈😈 and guys HE DOESN’T DO LABELS 😓

tags: @dancerbailey3 @hughesfein @loveforaugust @alwaysclassyeagle @love4ldr @inhoodmood

#ethan edwards #ethan edwards fanfic #ethan edwards fic #ethan edwards x y/n #ethan edwards x reader #quinn hughes #jack hughes #luke hughes #trevor zegras #mackie samoskevich #mark estapa #dylan duke #rutger mcgroarty #luca fantilli #adam fantilli #cole caufield #alex turcotte

[inevesgf]

SKI TRIP .. part one ⠀,⠀ chrismd.

synopsis ✩ you and chris hate each other, but a ski trip and some forced proximity changes everything.

warnings: gn!reader, drinking, series

authors note: a chrismd series! this isn’t my favorite piece of writing of all time, but i just needed to push out more chris content for myself and the other chris girlies out there. consider this little series my petition to be your favorite chrismd writer <3 thank you to @imredjack for the idea xx

THE FLIGHT TO FRANCE WAS A BREEZE: no turbulence, no boarding issues — you couldn’t have been more lucky. the crisp, cold air coveted your skin like a blanket as you exited the airport, scanning your new surroundings. even though you lived in europe and traveled around surrounding areas, you had never been to france. you liked the uk — if it were up to you, you’d never leave forever, though a holiday was pleasant once in awhile.

“bonjour,” you were greeted by your friend, george clarke, who spoke thickly with a fake french accent. you couldn’t help but let out a giggle as he spoke. you were surprised to find yourself in the position you were in. you didn’t know that helping george plan a trip with your mutual friends would result in you being invited. you had known this group of boys for years. being a friend of george’s since primary school, you became a videographer for him once he started his youtube career. because of this, you had become close with the others; the arthur’s, harry, will — the list went on. with your experience with social media, you had been a help to all of them with occasionally manning the camera. “comment vas-tu en cette belle soirée?” the teasing back from you made george roll his eyes. “ok — ok, i dont know that much!” as you laughed at his response, you found your thoughts slipping. the first glimpse you had seen of the french alps were gorgeous, but you still couldn’t help but feel awkward. as you scanned around, george and arthur in view, your eyes landed on chris. christopher dixon was something else. if it was up to him, you wouldn’t have been invited on this trip. but it was up to his best mate, george, and what george said goes.

chris was not fond of you in anyway possible and you were not fond of him. nothing particular had happened between you two, but the hateful tension always remained. you had heard from the other boys that chris hadn’t talked the best of you; always commenting on your clothing style and such in odd ways; but you didn’t let that bother you. instead, trying to keep the bond strong between all your friends, you never confronted him about it — the pity feelings you had between each other were mutual. piling into the taxi that would take you to your hotel, you sat yourself next to arthurtv who greeted you with a smile. you were far more fond of arthur and george and that thought made you mentally pray you’d be roommates with them for the holiday.

the taxi came to a stop, the driver tipping his hat at you as you slipped a fiver into his tip cup. once again the new feelings of the french air tickled your skin as you exited, george handing you your luggage that he had pulled out of the trunk. “alright,” george pulled out several room keys from his pocket, preparing to distribute them among the others. “this one’s for arthur(tv) and i — harry and arthur,” george handed harry the room key, “and chris and y.n—“ a cheeky smile formed on his face, making your eyes twitch. george knew that you and chris despised each other — you knew him rooming you with chris was all apart of some fucked up plan. “thanks—“ you were short as you snatched the key out of his hand. “can i room with arthur instead? please?“ that jersey accent had almost made you vomit as he spoke. “be nice to them, ok? c’mon, you both have a lot in common and i’m sure by the end of this trip you’ll be good friends!” george didn’t sound so sure of his words, he just hoped and prayed chris would give you the benefit of a doubt and not kill you.

you trudded your way up the stairs, reading the room numbers on the door as you and chris approached yours. you couldn’t help but mentally curse george for what he had done; later you were sure to say something to him, but for now you just had to make this work. you inserted the key into the door, twisting the doorknob. to your dismay, the door did not open and you found yourself standing there somehow even more stupid in-front of chris. before you could go to try the doorknob one more time, chris grumbled, nudging you out of the way as he twisted the doorknob. to your frustration, it opened with the first turn. “it’s really not that hard, innit?” chris opened the door as he spoke. “look — can we please just spare each other a bloody second? ok, we’re on holiday, yeah? we’re supposed to relax. i think me and you can lay off each for a week.” you didn’t mean to snap, but it happened, causing chris to stop dead in his tracks as he stepped into the room. “ok, yeah sure, but if you so much as set me off one time, this isn’t going to be easy for us.” you didn’t know what he truly meant, but you didn’t care. you pushed yourself passed chris and fully into the room, this time you being the one to stop dead in your tracks. “are you fucking kidding me right now? do you see this? those fucking basterds,” to your surprise, and chris’ as well, there was only one bed. you practically vomited at the thought of having to share a space with him and a bed was even worse. “is this your doing?” you couldn’t help but be even more irritated by his words. “really? you think i’d arrange this? why don’t you ask the boys? maybe they think you fancy me or something and are doing you a favor.” you had seemingly set chris off, but he tried to contain himself. “you wanna know what? you can sleep on the chair, i’ll sleep on the bed — problem solved.” he walked himself into the room, placing his luggage onto the bed. “yeah, right.” you rolled your eyes. “why can’t we just share the bed? we’ll have separate blankets — everything will be fine as long as you don’t touch me.” you spoke. chris shot you a glare, pulling his luggage off the bed, now placing it on the floor. “fine, but just this once.”

you had seemingly sorted out the room problem with chris, but that did not stop you from scolding george later that night at dinner. “why’d you do that? are you trying to ruin this holiday?” your words were more playful as you tried not to upset george — more issues were the last thing you needed right now. “im doing you a favor, ok? this will be good for all of us. you’ll finally work things out with him and then we’ll all be best mates.” he tried to laugh through your frustration, which only made him nervous about what he had done. “if this only makes things worse, i know who to blame.” “—blame me too!” you look over at harry whose normal resting face was replaced with a big grin. “you cheeky basterd.” was all you managed to get out before the waiter came over with the check.

the night had passed swiftly. you and chris had went the rest of the night without communicating much, which was good for the both of you. chris and yourself entered your shared hotel room, slightly drunk as you sat down on the bed. “remember our deal — we each get our own side of the bed.” he spoke, pulling his shirt off and throwing it to the side. you found yourself staring at him a bit too long; studying each line of his abs. as much as you hated chris, you acknowledged he was good looking, but you wouldn’t be caught dead admitting that. unfortunately chris seemed to notice this, which caused him to furrow his brows. “take a picture, it’ll last longer.” his teasing made you roll your eyes — you were sure not to fall for it. “in your dreams.” you didn’t know if it was the alcohol making you think this way, but you hoped it was. even though you should have looked away, you studied chris carefully as he put on a clean top. shaking yourself out of these thoughts, you reminded yourself of the distaste you had for him — the way he’d say odd things about you behind your back, the way he couldn’t stand to even be in your presence. you found yourself calming back into your little world where a pleasent thought of chris did not exist.

once it came time to sleep, you could see the disgust on chris’ face as he climbed into your shared bed. as much as you hated you had to be in the same vicinity as him, you didn’t think it was the biggest deal in the world. “do you snore?” he asked, as he pulled the blanket over his legs. “nope, i bet you do.” chris rolled his eyes, a slight huff escaping his lips as he rolled over, his back facing you. you took this as a sign turn off the beside lamp and get yourself situated to sleep. no thoughts of sharing a bed with chris bothered you as you drifted off to sleep.

“so, how was last night?” george asked you, a teasing manner slipping from his lips even though he tried to contain himself. “what? you think we’re just going to fuck and get over things? you’re sick.” you weren’t completely serious, or mad at george, but you wanted him to know his little plan wouldn’t work out as well he thought it would. you scooped yourself some eggs from the hotel’s breakfast, grabbing yourself a fork before sitting down next to harry. similar to george, he began to bombard you with questions. “didn’t make up yet?” he raised his eyebrows, pulling a scoop of hash-browns to his mouth as he took a bite. “no, and unlike george, i don’t think it’s going to happen.” “why can’t you guys just fuck already?” your eyes darted over the table, raising an eyebrow at arthur’s sudden proposal. you practically spit out your bite of eggs at his words. “cmon, don’t laugh. you have so much sexual tension, we can all feel it.” you laughed. you had noticed chris glancing at you plenty of times before, shifting his eyes away the second you noticed. you noticed how he’d tease you — but again, you just expected it was because of his distaste for you. “oh sure,” you added sarcastically, taking a sip of apple juice as chris joined the table. you mentally prayed not another word would be said in that conversation, especially because chris was now present. “so,” arthur hill began to speak, setting his fork down next to his plate, “what’s the plan for today, georgie?”“well, we’re going to hit the slopes, of course. there’s also this little gig playing tonight at one of the hotels pubs — i was thinking we could go to that.” george responded. “good, i could use a fucking drink already.” chris perked up at the idea of a bar, and drinks at that, which made you laugh. “what? is having to share a room with y.n that bad?” arthur laughed. chris seemed hesitant to answer, which confused you a little as he was always quick to make you the bud of his joke. “it’s been a long week — well needed holiday.” his response seemed to confuse everyone at the table as george looked over at you, cockily raising his eyebrow. you knew his plan had a very generous slim shot at working, but chris seemed to be becoming more lenient on you — at least this morning. which made you question if chris had woken up on the right side of the bed this morning.

you and the group spent most of the day skiing and snowboarding — you skiing as it was always easier to you. it was a fun day; full of laughs, and you got to spend most of it away from chris which couldn’t have been better. “i dont think it even matters how many layers i have on, i’m freezing.” arthur shivered, wrapping his arms around himself as tight as he could to maintain some warmth. “it’s getting late now,” george spoke, checking his watch. it was now half past 5 and you were shocked once you put together that the six of you had been out in the snow for almost 8 hours. “the gig starts around 6, if we stop here we’ll have some time to get ready and warm up before then.” everyone seemed to agree with george’s idea and began to unwind. once getting back to the shack, everyone undressed themselves from their snow gear and laid it up to dry in lockers they had rented for the week.

you and chris made your way back to your hotel room again, not speaking to each other along the way. once you entered, chris wasted no time in preparing himself for the night — dousing himself in cologne and fixing his curled hair to the best of his abilities. he was one to dress casual, but he had caught your eye once he exited the bathroom dressed in something more put together. head to toe in black, chris wore black slacks and a black t shirt, which had you looking at him far more than you liked to admit. chris didn’t seem to notice as he walked around you, grabbing his phone before he sat down on one of the lounge chairs in the room. now having an idea of what the ‘dress code’ was for the evening, you began to get yourself dressed.

it never took you long to get ready — you had taken about 10 minutes this time — which still had chris’ panties in a bunch. a knock erupted on the bathroom door, causing you to huff slightly. “are you done in there? its almost 6, i’m going to leave without you.” you checked yourself out in the mirror one more time before opening the door, meeting face to face with the boy. chris stood there, your faces close to each other. you couldn’t help but feel annoyed as you noticed him studying you. “i was in there for 10 minutes, don’t get your panties in a twist, mate.” he scoffed, backing away from you which eliminated the noticeable tension. pushing passed him slightly, you grabbed your phone and had made your way to the door. chris took his fine time getting his shoes on as you did, which made you laugh at him softly. “look who’s taking a long time now.” “you just can’t be nice to me, can you?“ you scoffed, placing your hand on the doorknob behind you as you stayed facing chris. “i could say the same thing to you — haven’t shut your mouth since we got here. hell, you even objected to being roommates with me.” chris huffed under his breath, standing up from his once seated position. the vibes in the room shifted, but you couldn’t tell what you were feeling now. chris seemed slightly bothered at your words, which had you confused. “okay, i’m warming up to you,” your mouth laid a-gap and in pure surprise you practically chuckled. “i think we can stop being at each others throats — it’s what best for the both of us and the others.” “where was this side of chris when i told you we should be civil with each other at the beginning of the trip? what made you change your mind, huh?” before chris could even think of a response, a knock erupted on the door. to pull yourself out of this unwanted conversation, you opened it up to be met with george. “are you two ready?” he hummed and you nodded your head in response. chris made his way over to the door, stepping aside you before exiting first. for a second, your bodies brushed up against each other, sending a chill down your spine that you couldn’t quit understand.

for the duration of the walk to the pub, you walked behind the others, thinking of the conversation you had with chris. you couldn’t help but be angry at him. he had been at your throat since he met you; saying bad things behind your back, and now he had changed his mind quicker than you had imagined. if only in the beginning he had gotten time to know you, this would have never happened. you didn’t know what you had said or done that was so alluring to chris — alluring enough for him to change his mind about you. you recalled him studying your body shamelessly after you exited the bathroom. but if being impressed by your body was his reason for changing his mind, he was an asshole. “are you doing okay?” harry asked as he walked up next to you, his hands shoved into his trouser pockets. “what? oh, yeah.” he pulled you out of your deep thoughts as he spoke. “you sure?” “just tired is all. i just need a drink to take the edge off.” you tried to work a smile onto your face, which seemed to be convincing enough for harry as he returned the smile. you didn’t remember the rest of the night fully. all you could recall was the flashing lights as rock music played and the countless amount of shots you had taken. you were absolutely smashed by the end of the night, according to george, who was also more gone than he’d like to admit. luckily, you could handle your drink unlike arthurtv, so you could still function semi-normally by the time everyone called it a night.

your memory of the nights events jogged a little when you woke up in bed next to chris; his body tangled in yours instead of on his side of the bed. a warm heat coveted your hips — his arms wrapped around it loosely. hot breaths down your neck made your spine shiver and your mind cloud as you assessed your situation. your eyebrows furrowed as your eyes adjusted to the sun peeking through the windows, the hangover prominent. your heart started to beat faster in your chest from embarrassment or even anxiety. over the past few days, you had gotten used to chris’ company. of course, it wasn’t your favourite, but you had realized it wasn’t as bad as you thought. to you, he was now bearable to be with, but not this close. chris began to stir in bed, making your breath hitch. once he had finally awoken, he was met with the situation you found yourselves in. squinting his eyes as they adjusted to the brightened room, chris couldn’t help but flush red once he noticed where his hands were. a mumble escaped his lips; one of an apology or just jumbled words — you couldn’t tell. he pulled his warm arms away from you, which made you feel naked from his grasp. you sat up awkwardly, sitting yourself up against the bed frame as you cleared your throat. chris huffed a little bit before he began to talk. “tell no one about this?” he seemed embarrassed, flustered even, as he spoke, a red hue accompanying his pale cheeks. you had never seen chris so quiet; so timid. a quick “mhm.” was all you could getting out without a hint of embarrassment hitting your face. a part of you couldn’t help but miss the warmth of his arms, but you knew it was stupid. you didn’t like chris and his new-found attitude didn’t change that. you still couldn’t help but crave his touch again, though. you knew that this thought was wrong, so wrong, but the idea of something wrong felt so good.

#chrismd #chris dixon #chris md #chrismd x y/n #chrismd x reader #sidemen #ksi #miniminter #fanfic #sidemen fanfic #wroetoshaw #w2s #w2s imagines #harry lewis #callux #calfreezy #jj olatunji #simon minter #george clarke #george clarke x reader #arthurtv #arthurtv x reader #callux x reader #sdmn #arthur frederick #chris michael dixon #fanfiction

[timefight]

LOVER OF MINE (02)

SYNOPSIS note to self, don’t break a singer’s heart. their next album will be about you. charlie bushnell can speak from experience.

CONTENTS nothing bad, charlie jokingly blocks leah but shes unblocked the next chapter

NOTE nah im not making this canon compliant im lazy anyways crabbush = charlie, chanelz = dior, leahsaveme = leah, walkthetalk = walker, ijbol = aryan, andrewnotgarfield = andrew duh dont ask me to explain the usernames djfndndn (but i probably will) ALSO idk how to do dms/gcs/texts 😭😭 any ideas???

DISCLAIMER i don’t own these pictures, i found all on pinterest! also the reader’s fc is asian and reader does play cindy moon, aka silk, in the marvel universe but feel free to change that to something that fits you!!

charlie bushnell/fem. reader smau

series masterlist. prev.

hanihoney just posted to instagram!

Liked by ethanitup, icespice, dior.n.goodjohn, and 248,831 others.

hanihoney me because tonight’s over :( aaaa thanks for having me and ethanitup perform ‘about you’ for the first time ever… that song makes my brain itch. ethan, thanks for sharing the stage with me, it was the best with you <3 ily guys sm!!

tagged ethanitup

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user0 HOW MANY WORDS IN ABOUT YOU?

user1 ATE!!

ethanitup its ok even if all my fans paid more attention to u than me … you outshine everyone else too so what can i expect

hanihoney is this … a compliment i hear?

ethanitup shut up hanihoney

user2 omg are her and ethan dating ??

user3 no, just friends

user4 so they say👀👀 user3

user5 stop speculating abt ppls private lives weirdo user4

dior.n.goodjohn your voice is SO gorgeous😭👀 duet?

hanihoney dont have to ask me twice 👀

dior.n.goodjohn omg i actually cant believe you replied

user6 the way we are the same age and youve done so much more than me …

user7 who is dior?? and how does yn know her??

user8 i think shes playing clarisse in the new percy jackson series !!! and i dont think they know each other personally i just think shes a fan of yn😭 dior likes marvel

Liked by dior.n.goodjohn

crabbush what the hell dior…

chanelz WHAT? you don’t know that im the biggest fan of her 😍🥰🥰 i love her

shessogone just posted to instagram!

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shessogone how did his castmate find me

olivvy its not like youre the main character from a major franchise or anything

tatertitty why did you even respond too ^^

shessogone everyone kept tagging me in her comment!!! i didnt know what to do and it wouldve been obvious if i just ignored it bc i respond to a lot of comments usually especially if theyre from other ppl in the industry sjfndndn

ethanitup its not that serious bae shessogone

olivvy dont call her bae shes my bae ethanitup

ethanitup telling ur bf ur cheating on him olivvy

olivvy he said he’d understand if it was with yn ethanitup

ethanitup trouple???? 👀 olivvy

olivvy 👀👀👀 ethanitup

shessogone i mean if u dont mind me writing a song abt yall … 👀👀 olivvy

olivvy omg we can be the next haylor shessogone

shessogone oh my god fuck yeah olivvy

crabbush just posted to instagram!

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crabbush why do u guys hate me

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chanelz what are u even talking about

crabbush YOU.

chanelz ME??? what did i do crabbush

leahsaveme is this about her commenting on a certain someones insta post …

This comment has been deleted by crabbush.

crabbush SHUT UPP leahsaveme

chanelz WHAT???? leahsaveme WHY??? CHARLIE DO YOU HATE HER??? she didnt even do anything crabbush

walkthetalk wait who leahsaveme

crabbush oh my god

leahsaveme you DONT KNOW??? and its not exactly hate… chanelz

crabbush IM NLOCKING U DONT SAY ANYTHING leahsaveme

chanelz HOLD UP??? IMSG RN leahsaveme

walkthetalk WHO AR EWE TALKING ABOUT???

ijbol how do you not know did you not stalk charlies priv when we all followed him… walkthetalk

walkthetalk wait yeah but i didnt get very far tbh ijbol tell me anyways

crabbush DONT TELL THEM ANYTHING WHAT IS WRONG WITH YALL

leahsaveme i see you deleting the posts but i dont even have to have proof 😌

This user has been blocked by crabbush.

andrewnotgarfield you kinda did this to yourself bro shouldve just kept your mouth shut

crabbush shut up you know i dont think straight when it comes to her 😒 andrewnotgarfield

next?

🧾 © timefight

#luke castellan imagines #luke castellan x reader #percy jackson #percy jackon and the olympians #percy jackson imagines #percy jackson and the olympians imagines #charlie bushnell #percy series #luke castellan #pjotv #charlie bushnell x reader #charlie bushnell imagines #luke pjo #luke castellan fanfic #luke castellan pjo #pjo luke #percy jackson smau #pjo smau #smau

[jennaissantes]

1 4 3 POINTER — n.rk

pairing: fem!reader x sports captain!riki

synopsis: after forcing yourself to stop playing basketball due to peer pressure, you meet nishimura riki – who reminds you of past you ; and you hate it. you hate him. So why do you find yourself wanting to help him when he's going through tough times?

genre: comfort fluff, sports au, angst, enemies to lovers

warnings: profanity, injuries, mentions of food, theyre also very young and emotionally very unstable. peer pressure is bad. some trauma dumping, mentions of reader getting bullied. please dont stay quiet if you know someone whos going through something bad! 

featuring: enhypen + hanni pham and danielle from newjeans!

WC: 19k ( yeah so when I said 10k i meant 19k pffft obviously)

playlist: if youd like to listen to it!!

FIC TAGLIST: @prdxinvade @hafsa-hoofsa-heefs @catseong @winteringdream @ahnneyong @dimplewonie @flower0930 @officiallyjaehyuns @kualdie @pagesofmiracles @j-wyoung @grey-gteam @dudufodd @operawritesthings @roseyrays @iirene304 @mimisamisasa @channoticedmeuwu @nicholasluvbot @kimsohn @dazed-hee @amakumos @chiyuv @dearhee @yyunari @beomsbeanie @soobnny @soov @luvhyun3 @tnyhees @xiaoderrrr @kimipxl @1-800shutthefuckup @taegyuul​ @yjck121​ @w3bqrl​ @gyuwrites​ @enhacolor​ @sjyuniverse​ @jaeyunverse​ @wonyofanclub​ @atrirose​ @goldenhypen @flrthwang @nokacchan @shionmarryme @ddeonudepressions​ @luvistqrzz​​ 

authors note: ITS HERE!!! FINALLY. I’ve given every piece of me to this fic. i love it so much. i hope you guys do too. im so so excited to post it and i would absolutely LOVE, LOVE to get feedback on it. thank you @soobnny​ @jaeyunverse​ @chiyuv​ and @amakumos​ for proofreading this oml you guys are the best ily i hope this meets everyones expectations haha.

i.

Its easy to ignore the world. It always has been.

You weren't a stranger to pretending that people's comments didn't affect you as much as they did. Masking your feelings was something you were good at. While that was a skill, it also proved to be a factor leading to your downfall. 

You, Y/N L/N, were the star player of Hybe Academy’s women's basketball team. 

Were.

Your parents first realised that you had a special talent for basketball when you were just 4 years old. 

It wasn't very often you saw a 4-year-old score a clean goal, the swish of the net echoing through the silence in the room as your parents stood there stunned. While most parents would've cheered, caught the moment on camera and laughed it off as luck, yours took it as a message from the universe to sign you up for basketball lessons.

You loved basketball. 

You loved the adrenaline. You loved being a part of a team. 

Turns out, your teammates didn't like being one with you. It could've been jealousy, it could've been something else, but none of your teammates in your old school fancied playing with you. Neither did your coach.

You tried your best, you put in one too many hours trying to perfect your skills. Yet, nothing seemed to make your coach content. Your parents, however, were beyond proud of you.

You never told them about your teammates because you didn't want to worry them. They weren’t putting in so much value into your sport for you to just complain about your bad teammates and a pushing coach. No, you'd rather stay silent about it.

But your mother found out. She was enraged—not at you, but at your school. Your parents immediately sent in a withdrawal letter to the school effective as soon as possible. They wanted the best environment for you to grow your talent in.

Except you didn't.

All the bullying, the pushing, the constant not-good-enough looks from your coach demotivated you. You began to hate the sport. The same sport you would have given your life for became a tiresome chore.

It felt monotonous. The same practice routines, the same drills, the same swish of the net. It no longer excited you. 

You were a child-prodigy. But maybe that was all you'd ever be.

To say that you were looking forward to joining a new school was a lie. You weren't really excited. 

Talking to new people and making new friends wasn’t your thing. You preferred being in your own little space—just you and your orange striped ball. 

“Honey, I’m sure you're going to love it at Decelis! I've heard they have a really good team too. If you want you can try out,” your mother spoke to you at dinner before your first day.

At the mention of a basketball team, you began fiddling with your food, chewing on the skin inside your mouth. It was a sensitive topic, but your mother was always careful not to talk about it too much.

She sounded so hopeful that you didn't want to disappoint her.

“Sure, mom. I'll check it out, maybe.” You sent her a small smile, feeling a bit guilty when her eyes lit up and she made eye contact with your father, smiling.

Who knew? Maybe you would go and check out the school court sometime.

The next day, you woke up way ahead of time. The anxiety of going to a new school was finally getting to you. 

You were ready by 6:45 am. Too early. You didn’t have to be in school until 8 am.

Why were you this nervous? Joining new crowds was never a problem for you earlier. So what was the matter now?

Maybe it was the thought of people judging you that scared you, or maybe it was the fact that the team here might be exactly like the one back in your old school. 

Brushing off your negative thoughts, you put a smile on your face for the sake of your parents and headed down to get breakfast. Your mom chirped a ‘good morning, honey!’ and set down your breakfast on your table.

You knew how much these moments mattered to her. When you were on the team, you barely had any time to spend with your family. Going early to practice and coming home late, tired but not hungry. worried her. You were stuck in an unhealthy cycle of exercising but not nourishing yourself enough to make up for it.

You were glad to have such loving parents who took care of you.

Your dad dropped you off at school, hugging you tight by the carpark so you didn’t need to worry about getting embarrassed in front of the other students. 

“Good luck, kiddo. Have a great day.”

You found the administration office easily. You were glad the school campus wasn’t very confusing.

“Hi! I'm Y/N. It's my first day and I think I'm supposed to come here, right?” You smiled warmly at the admin, who clapped in glee at your arrival.

“Ah! Y/N! I've heard so much about you. We’re so glad to have you here. I'm Mrs. Taeyeon. I hope you find this school welcoming.”

You thought Mrs Taeyeon was a kind lady and returned her smile.

She handed you a paper, which you assumed was your class schedule. “Not surprisingly, you'll have a guide for a few days.” 

She chuckled upon seeing the slight discomfort on your face.. “Don't worry. Danielle is a very nice girl. You have most of your classes with her too!”

You nodded, finding some comfort in her words.

Before you left the office, Taeyeon called your name. 

“Don’t worry too much, yeah? You'll fit right in.”

ii.    

You took a liking to Danielle. 

She was more than happy to show you around. Her cheerful personality almost immediately brought you happiness. As the admin had said, the two of you shared most of your classes, leading to you hanging out with her the most.

Your first day of school started off much better than you had thought it would. Your locker was pretty spacious and you were able to paste your small Seth Curry poster easily.

You never saw who had the locker next to yours though. 

Maybe they're not present today, you thought to yourself. 

You liked the idea of having a friend whose locker was next to yours. You made a mental note to try and keep a close circle of friends.

In your second period, which was AP calc, you found yourself wondering that maybe shifting schools wasn't so bad. Maybe it would all be okay.

Your seatmate, Hanni, seemed to click with you really well. She knew Danielle and asked you to sit with her during lunch and you couldn't say no to her.

“So.. what’s your hobby?” 

Ah. Now, how to answer.

You smiled at her sheepishly, “I don't really know…”

Should you tell her?

“I mean… I used to play basketball.”

She gasped. 

“Oh, what position?”

“Shooting Guard.”

“That is so cool. Sorry if I'm bothering you with too many questions. We don't really have any good players in our school. Unless you count Nishimura Riki, but he's just tiresome.”

You laughed at her enthusiasm, “It's alright.”

Hanni nodded. “Don't worry, most of us are nice. Present company included,” she added, playfully nudging your shoulder with hers.

It felt almost strange, not having to think about basketball all the time. Now that you thought about it, you had no idea how you managed to spend so much time on sports and manage your studies along with it. 

Not having to worry about so many things felt nice, but there was always a void in your heart—one that could only be filled by basketball. You kept telling yourself that thinking about the game wouldn't help you in any way. 

After all, it was in the past right?

The rest of the day went by in a whir. You enjoyed Hanni’s company. She didn't leave your side, and you were thankful for her. It was nice to have a couple of good friends.

For the first time in years, you walked back home with a smile.

Your mother was overjoyed to hear about your day. She was happy that you seemed to finally be able to enjoy life as a teenage girl. Your parents often wondered if they had done the wrong thing by making you sign up for basketball all those years ago. They didn’t mean for it to take a toll on you like it did.

Over the next few days, you walked into school and walked to class with Hanni. She would wait for you, excited to spend the day with her new friend. Danielle came along with you guys, gushing about some guy she found cute in the previous days.

“— and Oh, my god, I swear he is to die for.” 

You and Hanni giggled at her words. “Yeah, yeah. I bet he's a dreamboat alright.”

Walking to class, Hanni pivoted towards you and smirked. “Say… did any of the guys catch your attention yet, Y/N?”

Danielle turned as well, waiting expectantly for your answer. Truth be told, you hadn't really considered checking out any of the boys. You'd been far too busy being nervous about having a good first day.

When you didn’t answer immediately, Hanni started naming some people you might have seen the previous day. “What about Jungwon? He's our class president, remember? He's really cute.”  

You remembered the face of the cat-like boy. He had welcomed you into class with a kind smile and some small talk. He was cute but he wasn’t your type. 

“I mean, I guess he's nice.” 

Hanni stopped. “You guess? Oh, come on, the guy’s got everything! Good grades, pretty face and a great personality—what's not to like?” 

You smirked at the way your friend talked about him. “Do you like Jungwon, Hanni? You seem to be very interested in him.”

Hanni’s eyes widened and she shook her head in denial, but her red cheeks said otherwise. “No, I don't! What makes you say that?” 

You and Danielle shared a knowing look before walking into your class, leaving Hanni confused about her own feelings.      

During lunch break, you remembered your mothers words. Should you go and check out the court? If your mother said it's really nice, then it must be, right? But what if it brought back unwanted memories? And what if the team was just like the one back in your old school?

The constant worry was always going to be there.

Danielle noticed you playing around with your food and realised you'd zoned out. She waved her hand in front of you to bring you out of your reverie.

“You okay? You're not eating anything,” she asked, concern evident in her tone. Hanni also looked worried.

You quickly smiled at them and let out an awkward chuckle. “Yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking about something.”

Hanni and Danielle seemed sceptical, but they didn’t say or ask you anything more.

After school ended, you decided to go and check out the court. Just walking around won't hurt anybody, right?

Sending a quick text to your mother, you told her you'd be back home a little late.

You half expected the court to be empty since you’d assumed most people would have gone home by now.

You didn't expect to see a tall individual being scolded by a comparatively shorter one. The former's head was hanging low.

You didn’t mean to pry, but you couldn’t help but eavesdrop. 

“What's really going on, Riki? This isn't your usual performance. Your layups were messy, and that assist? Really? Is that the best you can do?”

You assumed the taller man to be the coach, and the slightly shorter boy to be Riki. Said boy mumbled something along the lines of ‘I'm sorry. I promise I'll do better.’            

The scene seemed all too familiar to you.

You didn’t notice a water bottle in your way, causing you to trip over it. The sound made by your stumble echoed through the room, catching the attention of the two men. Riki looked up to see you struggling to steady yourself from tripping again. He scowled, walking toward your figure.

“Who are you and why are you here?”

Oh boy.

iii.          

You stood there awkwardly in the middle of the bleachers, trying to form a response in which you didn’t end up embarrassing yourself.

Why was it so hard to form words? You weren't even doing anything wrong.  

Maybe it was the tall guy’s sharp gaze that was making you have a hard time replying. 

“Oh. I uh—”

“Save it. You're probably some loser fangirl who's here to watch Heeseung hyung or something. Piss off, seriously. He's not here today.”    

You prayed to whatever god was out there to not lose your cool. 

“Excuse you. I'm not here to fangirl over anyone. I simply wanted to walk around and check out the court.” you scoffed.

“Yeah right. Now buzz off, kid.”

It took every ounce of patience in you to not snap at the boy. You weren't even short, for him to call you a kid. Seriously, what was with this boy?

Now, if only you could remember his name. You had just heard his coach call his name, so why were you not able to recall the boy's name?

Huffing and walking out of the gym, you realised that you had forgotten your phone on one of the bleachers. You walked back in to grab it and get out of there quickly, not wanting to have another row with the unnamed tall boy. 

You walked in, trying to be quiet so you didn't bother him. Your eyes don't bother looking at the boy from earlier, who was now shooting the ball into the hoop effortlessly. 

You found your phone pretty quickly, sitting neatly on one of the bleachers. Just as you were about to leave, your eyes flitted towards the court again, wanting to see what the player was doing all by himself.

You watched as he dribbled the ball towards the hoop from just beyond the three point line, increasing in speed just a bit before slowing down to do his layup. The ball only just almost made it in.

“You should angle your hand a bit more to the left. That way when you jump up, it'll stay more balanced so you can hoop it easily. Your hand is a bit stiff.”

Your voice echoed through the almost empty room. Only after a few seconds of no response from the basketball player did you realise that it was probably a bad idea to interrupt him. 

Great. Now he probably hated you even more. So much for a first impression.

Although you were standing pretty far from where he was, you could see the expression on his face. He looked startled when you spoke, which quickly turned into a displeased emotion. 

Who were you to tell him what to do and how to do it?

“Yeah, as if I'm listening to you. You probably don't even know what you're saying. Now, get out before I call someone.” 

You rolled your eyes at him. If only he knew. 

“Take my advice if you want to. If not, then it's your loss. Doesn't affect me in any way after all. Have fun by yourself.” Saying so, you walked out of the gym, not wanting to deal with the boys' very annoying, know-it-all attitude. 

You didn't think much about the boy on the way back home. 

At dinner, your mom asked you if you had maybe gone to see what the court looked like. You nodded, telling her that it was a really nice court. You don't mention the mysterious but arrogant boy you had met, choosing not to bring in unwanted reactions of your parents making fun of you and asking if it meant you'd be getting a boyfriend soon.

While you lay down on your bed, your mind kept reeling back to the events of the day. 

You remembered how you walked in on the boy and his coach talking. His coach wasn't harsh. He had sounded genuinely worried for the boy. It made you think of your old coach and how harsh she used to be with you. 

You don't think she had ever asked you why you were feeling down on your bad days. You could've been tired, or maybe something bad might have happened which affected your practice, but your coach never made time to sit and actually talk to you ; ask you if you were okay.

How come he had it better than you? Jealousy began to seep through your veins. 

You decided to keep these thoughts of yours locked up far away in your brain, telling yourself that you shouldn't be jealous of someone just because you didn't have it as well as they did.

The following day, you decided to leave for school a bit earlier than usual, wanting to go sit by the court again.

Although you told yourself you'd never play basketball again, being near the court gave you some comfort.

You were glad to see that there wasn't anyone in the hallways. You weren't really expecting anyone to be in school at 6:30 in the morning anyway.

As you walked nearer to the gym, you were sure you could hear the squeaking of shoes and the bouncing of a ball. You were way too accustomed to knowing the sound.

Who was in school this early?, you thought to yourself. You were sure that you were the only person crazy enough to be in school at the crack of dawn. 

When you opened the door to the gym, you were surprised to see the same face from yesterday. What was he doing here at this hour?

At the sound of your coming, the boy looked up from the floor of the court, his expression morphing into something of annoyance once he recognised your face from the previous day. You were sure your face held the same emotion as his.

“What are you doing here… again?” The boy didn't stop dribbling the ball around as he questioned your presence.

You walked into the court and placed your bag on one of the bleachers, ignoring his question. Sitting down, you crossed your legs and raised an eyebrow at him. “Where I choose to be is none of your concern. Now, continue whatever it is that you were doing.”

Scoffing at your words, the unnamed boy continued his practice. You found yourself watching his movements, analysing out of habit.

“You really should try using my advice from yesterday. You're still too stiff.” your voice bounced off the walls of the court. You were only trying to be helpful. It wasn't like you were praying for his downfall. You barely knew the guy.

However, your advice seemed to be the last thing he wanted. Smacking the ball on the ground, he walked up to you, almost seething in anger.

“Look, I don't know who you are–”

“I'm Y/N. What's your name?” you interrupt him, smirking. You were sure that people like him probably hated being interrupted.

And based on his reaction, you were right.

iv.

Ever since that incident, you swore to yourself that you would try and avoid the cocky basketball player. You really didn't want to deal with him anymore.

Looked like luck wasn't on your side.

A few days later, as you were walking towards your locker, you noticed a familiar figure standing near your locker.

Oh god, no.

Why was he standing next to your locker? And why was he opening the locker next to yours?

You slowly walked towards him, but decided to ignore him to avoid any weird conversation. Oh but of course he just had to start one.

“Don't tell me the locker next to mine is yours?” 

You glare at the boy. “Boo-hoo, oh what will you do now?”, mock pity heavy in your tone.

Just as he opened his mouth to say something, you heard Hanni calling your name.

Thank god.

“Y/N! Here you are, oh god. Dani saved us a table. Lets g— wait, why are you talking to Nishimura Riki?” she stops midway her sentence when she notices the boy next to you.

Nishimura Riki? This was him?

Walking away from your locker after grabbing your books, you begged Hanni to stop bombarding you with her questions of why you were acquainted with the boy.

“You talk to Riki? Why didn't you tell us?” Hanni asked you on the way to the cafeteria where Danielle was waiting.

Before you could answer her, she turned to Danielle, who had no clue what the two of you were talking about.

“You hear this Dani? Y/N knows Riki. And she never told us.” she slumped down on the chair as the girl beside her gasps.

“Oh My God? Why didn't you tell us?”

They were not accusing you, they were just curious and slightly bemused. You opened your lunchbox, telling them the whole story of how you had stumbled across him in the court a few days ago. 

You didn't forget to tell them how much you hated his attitude. 

“I swear to god. He and his high and mighty attitude can go fuck themselves. He's so infuriating, oh god. I was just trying to give him some tips to help him. And he had the nerve to be so rude about it—”

You thought your friends would agree with you, even hum in agreement. But all they did was look at each other, a smug guise masking their face along with a few knowing gazes shared in between, a look that threw you in shallow pits of confusion, but you continued to complain about the said boy.

“—and now I just found out that his locker is right next to mine. Just great. Wait, why are you guys smiling when I'm telling you how much I hate his guts?”

Hanni smiled, “Okay first of all, that's the most I've heard you speak and it's about a boy you're weirdly attracted to at school. Second of all, Nishimura Riki doesn't just talk to people at our school, you know that?” 

You're confused. “What do you mean? Also, I am not weirdly attracted to him. I mean… I guess he looks nice but that doesn’t make him any less bearable.”

Danielle only smiled, and it wasn't the usual bubbly one that she carried. It was one of those ‘I-know-something-you-don't’ smiles. And you didn't like it one bit.

“Look, I don't know what you're thinking. But whatever it is, it's not true, okay?” you say with finality.

“What do you think we’re thinking Y/nnie?” Hanni teases you.

“Please, shut up.”

Riki couldn’t stop thinking about you.

It was as if you had plagued his mind—the way you had so confidently stood up to him. Most other girls would have probably shied away, or tried to hit on him. But you didn't.

Riki was used to having girls crushing on him and trying to get his attention. He would tune them out constantly, not speaking to any of them or paying heed to any of them.

How come he had never seen you around before too? Were you a new student?

“Yo Riki. You're early for lunch, what happened?” Jungwon’s voice echoed through his thoughts, breaking him out of his reverie.

Riki looked up to see his two best friends, Jungwon and Sunoo. 

“Hey guys. Dunno, I felt like eating with you guys today.” he said, opening his lunch and smiling at them. Sunoo raised an eyebrow at his statement.

“You literally never eat with us anymore.” the older boy scowls as the younger sends him an embarrassed smile.

“I want to, but I need to put in more practice. Our match against Riverwoods is just weeks away, and I haven't been improving at all.” 

Jungwon sighs, “You're being too hard on yourself again, ‘Ki. I'm sure you're gonna do great. You need to start attending classes too. Mrs Lee asked about you today.”

Sunoo nods in agreement. “Look, we know you can catch up on studies easily, that's not the main issue here. You really need to start taking more care of yourself.” 

Riki knew he had been neglecting everything and everyone around him for basketball, but he couldn't help it. He needed to be the best.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a familiar figure walking into the canteen. 

“Hey Jungwon. Who's that girl? Is she new?” he asks his friend. 

Jungwon looked toward where Riki had pointed and saw you giggling with your friends as you sat down to eat.

He turned back to Riki. “That's Y/N. She's a new student in our grade. I think she's been here for a week? Ten days maybe.”

Riki nodded, trying not to act bothered by the girl. He didn't know why, but just looking at you was enough to make his blood boil.

“Why’d you ask though?” Jungwon questions the younger boy. “Oh, nothing.”

Sunoo smirks, “Yeah, right.”

“Okay, I need you to sign here, here and here.”

The lady at the counter, Mina, as you read her name tag, handed you a pen to sign your form. You were signing up to volunteer at a basketball training centre for kids over the weekend.

If you couldn't play professionally, you might as well do this, you thought.

After signing the form and waving goodbye to the lady, you decided to stroll around for a bit by the court.

You came across a seemingly empty court. You saw a bag by the bleachers but you couldn't see anyone around.

Picking up the stray basketball, you decided to try and shoot some hoops. For old times sake, you said to yourself.

Checking your form, you started on one of your old drills—the figure 8 over to a dribble layup. You were glad no one was around to see you. You didn't want any unnecessary questions.

You started with your feet spread apart and the ball in your right hand. Then you dribbled the ball through your legs to your left hand, and immediately dribbled it back to your right hand. 

You moved forward, increasing your speed a bit and performing a beautiful layup.

You were glad you hadn’t lost your touch. All those hours of practice had done you some good.

“Not you again.”

There was no way.

You turned back to be faced with Nishimura Riki, who was now walking towards you. You wore an unimpressed look on your face.

“Oh look, it's a dickhead.”

“I hope you trip over yourself.”

You stuck your tongue out at him. Immature, you knew, but you needed some satisfaction.

He holds his hand out, asking for the ball in your hand. You reluctantly pass the ball to him. The tall boy begins to walk around, the sound of the ball bouncing echoing through the four walled court.

“So, you play huh? Not bad.”

His voice cut through the silence between the two of you.

You choose between wanting to humour him or just ignoring him. Deciding on the former, you say,

“No, I begged the school admin to magically make me a basketball player”

“You know for someone with average skills, you've got a big mouth on you.” You felt yourself getting ticked at his antics.

“Do you ever shut the fuck up? And just so you know, my skills are so much better than yours. You couldn't even do a proper layup the other day.” you fired back. Riki stopped in his tracks, faltering at your words.

Glaring at you, he walked away, grabbing his bag from the bleachers and walking out of the court.

Had you gone too far?

No, you convinced yourself, he deserved it.

Riki walked out of the court, thinking about what you had said.

You were right, he couldn't even do a proper layup. How pathetic.

How would he even play during the upcoming match? He was totally out of shape.

“I need to practise more,” he thought. Your words had hurt him. He had seen how you had rendered the drill so effortlessly. How come you did it so well?

As much as he hated to admit it, your advice proved to be true. A few days after your first meeting with him, he had been thinking about what you had said to him.

He tried it out, angling his hand a bit more so he could shoot it directly into the hoop, and it worked, which made him even more frustrated.

You, an almost complete stranger to him, knew how to play it out in the court better than he did, and that enraged him.

Walking back home, you realised that Riki was a lot similar to you. He kept pushing himself. Every time you had come across the boy, he was practising. 

It didn't take you much long to realise that the boy was losing hope in his passion, just like you had.

He was doing well, but was frustrated that he wasn't able to do any better. The same frustration was the reason he was so distracted, why he couldn't push himself to do any better.

You didn't like that he reminded you of yourself. He was hard on himself, you saw it on the first day. The way he muttered under his breath, ‘not good enough’, the way he was at the court so early in the morning, just like you used to.

You didn't want to witness someone losing something they loved either. Looking at him reminded you of the way you had slowly stopped loving the sport. Although his reason differed from yours, the result was the same.

Telling yourself that it didn't change that he was an asshole, you went to sleep.

v.

Hanni had invited you over to her house. 

You had never had the time to make proper friends at your old school, after your ex best friend had left, and because of basketball.

So when Hanni asked you if you wanted to go over to her house one day, you found yourself saying yes. Your mother was over the moon. You had told her about Hanni and Danielle and she was ecstatic that the two girls were by your side always.

“Hey mom! We’re home!” Hanni’s voice echoed through the walls of her house. Not long after, a kind face popped out of the kitchen.

“Oh my! You must be Hanni’s friends! Nice to meet you. She talks about you a lot.”

You smiled at Lilian’s warm-heartedness. “Thank you Mrs Pham!”

“Mom, this is Y/N, my best friend.”

Best friend. You liked the sound of that.

You and Hanni headed upstairs to her room to get comfortable. Once the two of you had seated yourself on her bed and grabbed some snacks, she turned to you.

“So what's going on between you and this Riki? Tell me everything.” she said with an impish grin. You let out a sigh in annoyance.

“Oh don't even get me started. He is the absolute worst. Did I tell you I met him again? Like yesterday?” 

The girl beside you gasped comically, eyes widening. “No, tell me everything.”

You shifted around on the bed, ready to rant about the mentioned boy. 

“Okay so I was at the community centre. I wanted to sign up to volunteer to help some kids out with basketball. After I finished that I was just walking around and I ran into him. Again! Can you believe my luck?”

“I can't actually. Must be destiny or fate or whatever you call it.” Hanni said, popping a piece of popcorn into her mouth. You look at her in disgust.

“No way you actually think that me and … him, would ever become anything close to friends.”

She rolled over to you,, “I actually think you guys might become more than friends.”

“Like… best friends you mean?”

Hanni rolled her eyes, “No dumbass. I meant boyfriend and girlfriend. A walking enemies to lovers cliche.”

You laughed it off, changing the topic. 

“So, what do you wanna watch?”

The next day in school, you watched as Danielle ran up to you, grabbing your hand and taking you with her. 

She brought you to the noticeboard, pointing to one of the notices.

“Look! There's tryouts for the girls basketball team! You have to try out. Hanni and I will cheer you on!”

Oh.

Smile fading, you shuffle in your place awkwardly, not making eye contact with your friend. 

“Ah … I'm not so sure I wanna try out, Dani.” she looks at you, puzzled. “What? Why not?”

How do you tell her without telling her?

“Nothing, I just…don't know if I have the time to manage both sports and studies anymore. Yeah…”

She doesn't buy it, but doesnt ask you any further.

Over the next few days, you didn't see Riki at school much, and you assumed that he was practising for his game. You were almost glad you don't see him as often anymore. Although you would've never admitted it, you secretly wondered if he was doing okay.

He had definitely rubbed you in the wrong way, but that didn't mean you were a monster. You had half a heart to strike up a conversation with him and ask him how it was going, but decided against it once you remembered how much you hated each other.

Why was it so hard to just ignore and forget him?

Riki was blinking back tears.

Today's drill had gone particularly bad, but the coach had not even scolded him, which made him feel worse. Why wasn't he scolding him?

“Riki? Is everything alright? You seem out of it today. Do you need a break?” was what he had asked.

Shaking his head, he faced his mentor. “No. I'm fine. I don't know why I'm so distracted these days. I'm sorry, coach.”

Mingyu smiled at Riki, taking pity on the boy. “Don't apologise. I want you to do something. Get off early today, I think you need a break.” He thinks I'm not doing well.

“Go and rest a bit.” You're distracted.

Riki tried not to show how disappointed he was. Grabbing his bag in a huff, he packed his things up, thanking his coach once again before walking towards the door of the court. Mingyu sighed as he watched the younger boy walk away.

“He's taking it too hard on himself again.” he shakes his head, hoping that his star player would get better soon.

Mingyu had seen Riki at both his worst and his best. 

He knew that Riki was talented, with a burning passion to keep improving. The only thing he didn't like was how negative he was.

Riki would constantly take positive criticism in a negative manner. He closed off to everyone, not wanting any advice. Anybody who questioned his actions, or tried to help him improve, Riki would scowl at them and tell them to go away. 

He tried to act like he wasn't affected by it, but Mingyu knew that deep down, the boy was hurting.

It had taken him years to get Riki to where he was today. He had been patient enough with him to have brought him to this level. Riki had always been pretty reserved, even as a child. He was cautious, not wanting to associate with anyone he found intimidating, although he looked intimidating himself.

Mingyu watched as Riki walked towards the door. Just as he was about to open the door, it was opened from the other side, by you.

You expected him to scowl or glare at you, maybe throw in a few spiteful words too. But he just walked right past you, not even making any eye contact. Watching the boy walk away, you entered the court to see his coach, Mingyu, walking around.

“Um, hello.” you said, not wanting to be rude to him. The school coach returns your greeting with a smile.

“Are you the same girl from the other day? I think I recognize you.” Mingyu's voice startles you as you chuckle awkwardly, not knowing how to respond to his question.

“Yeah. Sorry for interrupting.”

The older man waves it off with a smile. 

It takes every cell in your body to stay still. You want to just grab the stray ball lying on the floor of the court and play. But you bit back the feeling.

“You're the new kid right? Do you play?” Mingyu didn't really need an answer to his question. He knew a good shooting guard when he saw one.

You fiddled with the sleeve of your shirt. “I um… I used to play but I stopped.”

“Ah, I see. Why did you stop?”

His question made you hesitate. “You don't have to answer me. It's okay.”

“No, no. It's okay. Uh it was because I wasn't really comfortable playing in my old school. I just… kinda stopped after that, I guess.”

Mingyu nodded to your answer, thinking of how to respond without causing you any more discomfort.

“Well then, I hope you find your spark again. And if you ever feel like you want to play again, even just a little bit, you know where to find me.” saying so, Mingyu got up, heading towards the exit.

Just before he left, he turned to you. “Oh, by the way, we’ve got tryouts in a month. Think about it, maybe.”

vi.

Riki didn't expect to see you again at the community centre again. 

He had walked into the court, to see you helping out with some of the kids. You were fixing their form, making them do a few drills, and so on.

“Hana, you need to be a bit faster, yeah? Just a bit. But you're doing great!” he watched as you smiled at one of the girls, giving her a high five. He found his lips turning at the corners.

What?

He caught himself quickly, walking away and wondering why the sight he had just seen had made him smile. He rarely smiled. It only appeared during games, after he won. Or after he beat his friends at Mario Kart.

Shaking away his thoughts, Riki began his practice. 

His stances were getting better. He had been able to do his usual drills flawlessly. All that was left was to nail the layup.

The one he always managed to mess up. 

It was so easy, an intermediate basketball player could most probably do it much better than him.

He took a deep breath, dribbling the ball on the hard surface of the floor, advancing closer to his goal.

Increasing his speed, he took one, two and three steps forward, jumping on the third one and letting go of the ball into the hoop. Holding his breath, he watched as the ball went straight into the hoop, not even touching it at the rim.

He had done it. 

Finally.

“I see you've got it. Must feel good huh?” 

He couldn't say he was surprised to hear your voice. It was only inevitable he’d meet you in the same community centre.

He turned back, a stoic expression on his face. “What do you want?” 

You made a small noise of disapproval at his tone. “Keep your tone in check, boy.” he gave you a pointed look.

After a few moments of silence, you turn to him. “Oh, right. I came here to tell you that Mina wanted an extra volunteer to help with the kids. Just for today.”

“I don't have the time for that. I need to practice.”

You roll your eyes. “You're always practising. I'm sure you can spare some time.” 

The black haired boy glares at you, walking closer. “Oh, yeah. Like I don't have anything better to do. Unlike you, I actually play basketball. And I don't spend time on anything unnecessary. Now leave me alone.” 

His words were straight venom to your heart. You bite back an insult, turning on your heel and walking away from him.

If only he knew of the countless hours you had sacrificed, never paying any heed to any distraction that came your way. If only he knew how much hard work you had put in, for it to all have gone to waste.

You walked back to the kids, smiling as some of the kids came up to you, asking for your help.

Unbeknownst to you, Riki felt bad. 

He knew he had not been very amiable with you, from the beginning. He was having a bad week, and he was sure that everyone and their mother knew that.

He saw how you gulped at his comment. And when you turned back to go, he had half a mind to call you and apologise, but the other half scoffed at him, telling him that you were just another annoying girl who was trying to get his attention. Plus, it wasn't like you had been very nice with him either.

After about an hour of trying to perfect a few of his moves, Riki decided he was done for the day, which surprised him. He would practise for hours on end with no breaks. 

Maybe his coach was right, he needed to slow down a bit.

While passing the second court on his way out, Riki tried to catch a glimpse of you, but much to his disappointment, you weren’t there helping the kids out. He frowned.

“What? Looking for me?” He turned his head, to see you coming his way, with a few bottles of water in hand. You looked like you were struggling to hold all of them by yourself.

“Yeah, right. I was um.. I was just—“

“Save it, asshole. I'll be on my way now.” saying so, you walked past him and into the court, smiling when you saw the tired little kids run up to you, pleading for some water.

Riki stood there, debating with himself on whether or not he should wait until you’re free and say sorry. Deciding against it, he walked back home. 

The following day, much to your dismay, Riki joined your class for Lab. You were almost positive he wouldn't be there since he would usually be at the court training during this time. Danielle often asked you how and why you could remember his schedule, teasing you for it. 

The only free seat was right next to yours, so Riki had no choice but to sit next to you.

God why was he sitting so close to you? It was as if he was invading your personal space. And there wasn't much space between the chairs anyway.

Shifting slightly, you pushed his feet away from you, trying to make some area around you. Riki looked up at the sudden contact and scowled at you, pushing his feet right back at you under the table.

You glared right back, rolling your eyes. Pushing him away from you one final time, you stepped on his feet for good measure, watching him wince in pain silently. He remained mum after that, but would send you dirty looks from time to time, which you reciprocated.

Hanni and Jungwon could only look between each other and laugh at the two of you in whispers. 

vii.

You and your friends walked into the cafeteria, spotting an empty table for the three of you to sit in. But just as you guys reached it, someone else had sat down there. 

You guys looked around in dismay, wondering how you'd find a table in the crowd. 

“Hey Hanni! Over here!” a familiar voice called out to your friend. 

It was Jungwon. He motioned with his hand towards the table he was sitting at. The three of you smiled, walking towards him.

You sat opposite Jungwon, Hanni and Danielle. “You sit alone for lunch?” you asked the class president.

“No, I usually sit with—“

“What's she doing here?”, a deep voice echoes through your conversation.

“—Riki.”

Great. Of course he did. You should’ve known they were close friends. 

“Riki, meet my friends; Hanni, Danielle and Y/N.” Your friends waved at him, making eye contact with you and smirking. 

“Yeah, I know Y/N.” he set his food down on the table, clearly not wanting to sit with you again.

“Bravo! Do you want me to give you an award for it?” You smirked at him, knowing just how to push his buttons.

“You’re insufferable.”

“Likewise, asshole.”

Over the next two weeks, your small friend circle expanded. You became well acquainted with Jungwon and Sunoo. (And Riki but it's mostly just snide remarks and teasing from your side.)

Danielle often tried to subtly remind you about the tryouts, but you pretended to not understand what she was hinting. 

As much as you wanted to try out, the fear of not being liked by the team, or failing to do well since you were so out of practice, scared you. Your past trauma just wouldn't let you go for it.

A few days later, you were at Danielle's house for a sleepover. Hanni had come too. The two of you were picking your snacks while Hanni picked out a movie on the couch.

After grabbing a bunch of snacks that was commonly liked, the two of you made your way back to the couch, to see that Hanni had picked out a movie.

Hustle.

You froze. 

“We’re watching… Hustle?” You asked as you sat down between your two friends

Hanni smiled, “Yeah, it's a good movie isn't it?”

Hustle used to be your favourite movie. Obviously it involved basketball in it. You used to watch it whenever you were feeling a bit down. Had they picked this movie on purpose?

Yes, they had.

Your friends were a bit concerned about you. They noticed how you alway backed away from talking about the sport. It was always a sensitive topic to bring up, as they noticed. 

Danielle had talked to Hanni, telling her how you had said you didn't want to try out for the team, but she noticed how you'd often glance at the people training by the court, as if you wished to be part of it too.

They decided they'd somehow try to get you to tell them why you didn't want to try out, but not by forcing you to tell them. They didn't want to make you uncomfortable either.

“Y-yeah it is a good movie. It used to be my favourite movie, actually.” you said.

The two girls looked at each other. “Oh really?” 

You nodded. “Yeah… but not anymore.”

“Why not?” Hanni moves closer to you and holds your arm as a way of showing you that you could trust them and open up to them.

You still hesitate. 

“I just.. I don't know.” 

Your friends looked at each other and smiled in understanding. You weren't ready to tell them yet, and they were okay with that.

You couldn't have been more glad to have found such amazing friends who were patient with you. 

You didn't feel the need to have to keep it from them anymore.

“I stopped basketball because I got bullied in my old team.” You spoke suddenly, startling both of your friends. But when they caught hold of what you had said, they turned to you.

“Bullied? What?” Hanni couldn’t believe it.

“In my old school, I used to be the team captain. But no one treated me that way. They'd take me for granted and do whatever they liked. They used to make rude comments when I tried so hard to play well on the court.”

You felt the tears brimming your eyes. 

“Even my coach was hard on me. I tried so hard to be what she wanted me to be. She was never happy. I don't remember even one time where she smiled at me and told me I did well.”

Cue the waterworks. 

You couldn't stop your tears now. Your friends took pity on you, hugging you from both sides. 

“I used to practise from early in the morning until late in the night, but she was never satisfied. My teammates would often not pass the ball to me during our games, even when I was nearby. We’d often lose because of that. I tried to talk to them about it too, but they'd just laugh at me and walk away, calling me a pathetic team captain. I stopped playing ever since.”

You wiped your tears away, sniffing. 

Hanni and Danielle couldn't believe it. You had been so silent about it for so long. They wanted you to play again, especially after hearing what you had said.

“Oh honey, you weren’t a pathetic captain okay? The pathetic ones were your teammates. They were probably way too intimidated by how good you are.” 

Hanni nodded, agreeing with Danielle. “Yeah. You love basketball. I know it's hard, it's been hard. But you've got us now. And we love you. And we’ll always cheer you on.”

You had probably saved a nation in your past life to get so much love and such amazing friends like them now.

 It truly does get better.

You had decided you would go for the tryouts. 

After you had opened up to your friends, the three of you had talked for hours about how you should go back to playing basketball, since you still loved it so much. Your friends convinced you to go for the tryouts. 

Now you just need to practise a few times. You still had the game in you, all you had to do was give it a kickstart.

Your mum was overjoyed when you told her you wanted to start playing again. she made a mental note to herself to pay a visit to your friends, to let them know how grateful she was. 

Your dad had hugged you tight, telling you how proud he was of you to have overcome your past and start again. 

You slept like a baby that night, finally feeling some sense of wholeness.

 Basketball was your only love, something that kept you going. When you had stopped, it was like a part of you had been ripped away. You felt empty, the void in you pure black. 

You didnt know what to do, when your past teammates would pick on you so much. You thought it was your fault, that you had done something wrong. But you learnt that you werent at fault, later on. And by then, it was too late.

But it was going to be okay now. You were going to be okay.

Smiling to yourself, you went to sleep.

viii.

The next day, you woke up happier than you had ever been for a while. 

You ate breakfast and gave each of your parents a kiss on the cheek before running out the door, excited to meet your friends at school.

What you weren't excited for was to see Nishimura Riki’s face staring at you at the bus stop.

At first, you pretended not to notice him, but it was hard to, with him towering over you in the crowded bus.

The smell of his perfume was dizzying. The scent of vanilla with a hint of coffee cream. It wasnt too much, it was just right.

“Quit sniffing me, weirdo.”

Oh shit.

You looked up at the boys’ face, underestimating how close your faces were. Your breath hitched in your throat.

“I wasn't sniffing you. The bus moved forward so I accidentally moved closer to you and you know I had to breathe so I ended up accidentally-“

“Okay okay, jeez. I didn't ask for a whole explanation.” 

“But you— nevermind.” You frowned, feeling a bit embarrassed that he had caught you.

Just as the bus was taking a turn, it suddenly increased its speed, jerking you forward, and you stumbled onto the chest of the boy in front of you, holding onto his shoulders for support.

Fuck, you were practically hugging him at this point. Why did it have to be this crowded?

You felt his hand grab you by the waist, holding you steady so you didn't fall.

Looking up, you saw that Riki was already looking down at you, his eyes displaying a worried expression. That quickly disappeared once you cleared your throat. He let go of you as quickly as he had held you.

The mole on his chin was so pretty.

“Ahem, sorry.” 

You hated how awkward it was. There was so much tension in the air, and you were so close to screaming because of it.

Just as you thought you couldn't handle one more second in the crowded bus, you arrived at your school.

Getting down, you almost sprinted away as quickly as you could, wanting to get away from him.

Riki, on the other hand, was finally able to breathe after stepping out of the bus. 

It was almost suffocating, having you so close to him. But not in a bad way. Riki found himself not hating being in such close proximity with you.

And that thought confused him.

You were undeniably beautiful. Having your face so close to him could only make his heart beat at many miles per hour. 

He hoped you didn't notice how his eyes flickered to your lips for a second.

Shaking his thoughts away, he ran to his locker. 

You were there too. Of course you were.

Walking up to your side, he took his things from his locker, noticing how you suddenly fiddled with your things when you noticed his presence.

Riki almost wanted to chuckle at you. 

Cute, he thought to himself. 

‘Wait what? No you're not supposed to think shes cute, Riki’ he made a face to himself.

“What, is it that bad having to stand near me, Nishimura?” your voice echoed through his thoughts.

You were leaning against the locker in an incredibly attractive manner. 

He gulped, “ N-no I-“

Chuckling at his flustered state, you walked away, which made him realise you weren't waiting for an answer. You just wanted to make fun of him.

Riki frowned. God you were so annoying.

Yet he couldn't find a way to stop thinking about you.

“Oh my god? He held you by the waist?!”

Hanni and Danielle were squealing over the piece of information you had just told them. You rolled your eyes, “Come on, it was just to hold me steady so I wouldn't fall.”

“Puh-lease, Y/N. If he hates you as much as you tell us he does, he wouldn't have caught you.”

Hanni had a point. It gave you something to think about the whole day. Thoughts of the tall boy filled your mind, distracting you.

You were sure that if it wasn't for his negative attitude towards things, you would've had a crush on him by now. But then again, bad attitude or not, he was just your type. Goddamn him and his nice hair and nice eyes. 

You knew he was being harsh on himself. It was like seeing yourself through a different pair of eyes, a different perspective.

You wanted to help him, now that you had recovered from your past. But would he let you help him?

ix.

Riki was having a bad day. 

No scratch that. He was having a mother of bad days.

It was one of those days where he woke up grumpy, so his entire day went bad. Or at least that's what his mindset was.

He was running late. He missed the bus by a minute, tripped over his shoelaces, almost forgot to get out at the right stop, and had to wait for the staff to finish cleaning the court.

And he wasn't playing well either. 

Running a hand through his hair, he took in a deep breath, and tried to score a 3 pointer. 

He couldn't.

Riki felt the tears brimming at his eyes threatening to fall. He tried to blink them back, but failed to do so.

He let out one, two, three tears, before he finally gave up, letting the tears flow freely onto his cheeks.

He hadn't cried like this in a while. While it felt good to let go for once, he was terrified.

The match against the other school was only days away. What would he do? If he was going to play like this, how would he make Mingyu happy? How would his teammates look at him?

Overwhelmed with negative thoughts, he felt his tears continuously falling.

“Riki? Is that you?” your voice echoed through the court.

Oh god no. He couldn't let anyone see him in this state.

“N-no. You've got the wrong person.” Of course his voice had to come out weakly.

You couldn't help but worry seeing the boy crouched down, covering his face. You could hear his broken sobs through the room.

You approached him slowly, not wanting to scare him. He was in a vulnerable situation and you didn't want to do anything to make it worse.

You sat down beside him quietly, not sure if you could comfort him.

After hesitating, you raised your hand and rubbed it down his back, trying to calm him down. Once you saw that he isn't telling you to back off, you faced him properly.

“Do you want me to get you some water?” You whispered. Riki nodded, still not looking up. 

You came back with a bottle of chilled water. Giving it to him, you watched as he gulped down some of the water, his breaths becoming more steady.

After a few moments of silence, he caught his breath and wiped his tears away.

“Do you… want to tell me what happened?” You asked him slowly. You didnt want to force him to tell you why he was crying.

“It's okay if you don't want to tell me. I know we aren't on the best terms right now. I can just leave—“

“I'm having a bad day.” Riki interrupts you. You go silent, wanting to listen to what he had to say.

He took in a shallow breath before continuing. “Our game against Riverwoods is in a few days and I dont think I'm doing well enough.” 

“Why do you think like that? You've been practising a lot haven't you?” you made eye contact with him, to let him know he could trust you.

Riki nodded slowly. 

“Then you'll be fine. Don't stress yourself too much. You’re doing good.” You reassured him. He didn't look completely convinced. 

Just like you used to be.

“Hey, look at me. You’re good. You’re doing good. Can you repeat after me? Tell yourself you’re doing well.” You told him. He glanced at you and took a deep breath.

“I'm doing good.” 

You smiled on hearing him. “See? That's good. Do you feel better now?” 

Riki nodded silently. 

You didn't want to make him feel any more uncomfortable than he might have been feeling, so you got up.

“Okay then. Youre fine right? Do you want me to call someone?” He shook his head. “No thank you. I'm good.” He smiled a little and you felt your heart leap.

“I'll leave you to it then. Uh.. I hope you feel better soon.” You walked away from him, waving. He didn't wave back.

Just before you left the court, you heard a deep voice call out your name, making you stop in your tracks and turn to look back.

“I uh.. Thank you. You know… for this.” Riki rubbed the back of his neck.

You couldn't help but smile. “Anytime. I know we didn't have the best first impressions, but I'm not completely evil you know.” saying so, you walked out, grinning.

Riki couldn't wrap his head around you. Why were you helping him? He had been nothing but mean and arrogant to you.

Your voice was gentle. It was… comforting. He found himself leaning into your touch when you tried to calm him down. 

Why was he feeling like this?

x.

It was silent in the court. 

Other than the sound of your shoes squeaking against the hardboard and the bouncing of the basketball from your hands, of course.

You were training for the tryouts. 

Your friends had been there to watch you for a while before they had to leave. 

(“So this is the talent you had been hiding from everyone? You're so good!”) 

(“You should go pro, Y/N.”)

They had bought you a few bottles of water and juices even though you refused. They wanted you to stay hydrated and take care of yourself even if they weren't there to tend to your needs.

You were pretty confident that you would do well. You were just a bit out of shape, but you were able to fix that easily.

Not one shot out of place. 

Satisfied, you decided that you were done for the day. You had done a good few hours of practice and you were content with yourself. Packing up your things, you left the court, walking to the bus stop.

A tiny sound caught your attention. Turning your head to the direction of the source, you saw that the adorable noise was from a small kitten walking by the side of the road. 

Cooing, you gently approached it. It took a liking to you, letting you rub its fur lovingly as it purred. You smiled, unable to hold your excitement. 

Unknown to you, Riki happened to be passing by the same place. He froze on seeing your figure. He didn't know how to face you after you had seen him breakdown. 

He watched as you played with the kitten for a while, unconsciously smiling to himself. You looked so happy. Something so small made you so happy.

Why couldn't he be happy?

Turning away, he quickly boarded the bus that had arrived at the bus stop. 

You turned back to see that the bus was already moving. You sighed, deciding to wait for the next one. 

Riki watched through the moving window as you sat down on the bench of the bus stop before you disappeared from his view completely.

xi.

“I see you've changed your mind?”

Mingyu smiles as he watches you walk in on the day of the tryouts. 

You smiled back, “A few friends helped me see what I was missing out on.” The coach nodded, happy to see you there.

He told you to go sit by the benches and wait until it was time to start. You saw as your friends arrived, keeping their promise to cheer you on. You giggled to yourself on seeing Sunoo and Danielle hold up a banner that said ‘Y/N FTW GO GET EM TIGER!’

Soon, it was time for the tryouts to begin. 

You were part of the first group. Taking a deep breath, you got up, walking towards the floor of the court.

There were about 5 of you in each team. You were free to play whatever position you wanted to. 

Just before the game began, you saw Nishimura Riki walk up to Mingyu with a clipboard in his hands. 

Great, he was going to be assisting Coach.

You took your place, watching as Riki stood in the middle of the court, ball in his hand.

On the whistle, he threw the ball up, and you jumped up to catch it as fast as you could. Once you had the ball in your possession, you observed the position of your teammates and the other team. 

Deciding not to hold the ball for long, you passed it to the teammate who was on your right, Minji. 

Minji was a good player. 

She dribbled the ball skillfully, running towards the hoop. Once she noticed your teammate standing near the hoop, she threw the ball to them, but they failed to catch it. The ball was now in the opposite team’s possession.

Wanting to get the ball back to your team as soon as you could, you ran to the other team's hoop, knowing their first priority would be to score a quick point.

Noticing a weak moment between the opposing teams members, you used the time to grab the ball back to yourself, and passed it to Yunjin who was on your team. 

Yunjin passed it back to you when you had reached an optimal spot. 

This was your chance.

Spinning around on your feet, you shot the ball from around the 2 point line, watching as the ball went into the hoop effortlessly.

The room erupted in scattered cheers. You heard Hanni whooping in the air, and smiled. 

Glancing at Mingyu, you watched as he nodded. Riki was writing something down onto the clipboard, but looked back up and gave you a thumbs up.

The game continued for another five minutes, with Hana from the opposite team scoring a point.

You ran towards your friends as they surrounded you, telling you how well you had done.

You couldn't stop smiling. 

It felt so good to be back in the game. The adrenaline, the excitement of the game, it was all coming back to you.

From the corner of your eye, you saw Riki looking at you. 

You walked up to him, a triumphant look on your face as if you had proved him wrong.

“Remember when we first met, you said I didn't know what I was talking about when I gave you advice? Yeah, I think I definitely know what I was talking about.”

Riki was stunned. How could someone look so attractive while making fun of him?

Coming back to his senses, he rolled his eyes. “Sure, whatever.” 

You giggled at his words. Nothing could make you unhappy today. 

“Oh and by the way, Coach wanted to speak with you before he announced the results.” Riki told you, watching as you nodded, walking towards Mingyu.

What could Mingyu have wanted to speak to you about?

You walked up to the taller man, greeting him politely.

“Ah, Y/N! I wanted to ask you something.”

“Yes Coach? Is something wrong?”, You asked.

Mingyu rubbed his chin, “No, no. Nothing’s wrong. I just wanted to ask you how you’d feel about being the captain of the girls’ team this year.”

Did you hear him right?

“W-what?” 

He smiled. “You’re selected, quite obviously, and I think you'd make a great Captain. What do you say?”

What do you say?

You say yes.

xii.

To you, being the captain of a team meant being responsible enough to be in charge of the members of the team.

When you were in Decelis, you didn't think you were responsible enough. Why else did your ex teammates hate you?

You knew now that they hated you for a different reason, but being asked to be the team captain again, brought back many memories.

What if you were a lousy captain this time? What if nobody took you seriously?

You voiced out these concerns to your parents, and they helped you forget your worries with words of affirmation and good food. 

You had been chosen to be a part of the team as the captain. You were on shooting guard. You were introduced to your new teammates on the same day.

Minji and Yunjin were the point guard and small forward. Your other teammates were Tzuyu (center) and Haseul (power forward). Yeojin and Yeji were the subs.

You quickly became closely acquainted with Minji and Yunjin since they were with you during most of the tryouts. 

Your teammates were lovely. You found yourself enjoying your time with them. None of them seemed to be having any problems with you being the Captain. In fact, they were happy you were the one to lead them.

Your parents were right, you just needed a change of environment.

Over the next few days, you and Riki saw each other more often. 

The boys team had been spending a lot of time preparing for their match. It was an important match, which you understood after seeing Riki the other day.

You would often walk in on them playing in the court. Although the two of you weren’t on bad terms, Riki couldn’t find the courage to talk to you; not after you had seen him cry.

Only Jungwon and Sunoo had ever seen him cry before, you being the only other person. He felt comfortable around you. 

He didnt know why he did. Maybe it was your voice, the way you spoke so softly to him, the way you didnt make fun of him for crying, the way you were there to help him, even after the two of you bickered often.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Jungwon’s voice broke him out of his train of thoughts. He smiled at his friend.

“Nothing. I was just thinking about the girls team.” Jungwon raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you thinking about the girls team or the girl’s team captain?” He smirked, watching his best friend's ears turn red.

“Stop it, Won.”

The older boy crossed his arms. “Why do you think about her so often?”

Riki didn’t know how to answer. “I- I don't know. Just probably because I see her sometimes.”

“You see her almost all the time, Riki.”

“Right.”

xiii.

“What's this for?”

Riki had just placed a juice box beside you, and sat next to you on the bench. Looking anywhere else but at you, he said, “Just a.. thank you gift. Y’know, for helping me out the other day.”

You smiled, feeling warm all over. “Wow, this might just be the nicest thing you've ever said to me, Nishimura.” He cleared his throat, nodding awkwardly.

“How’s practice going on? The match is in a few days right?” you were trying to make conversation.

Riki looked at you, surprised that you were continuing the conversation. He ran a hand through his hair.

“Yeah.. yeah it's going pretty good.”

“And you? How are… you doing?” you didn't want to make him uncomfortable with your question. Riki noticed your hesitant tone, immediately wanting to make you not feel awkward about asking him. He shifted closer to you.

Your shoulders were almost touching now.

“I'm good! Good…I’ve been taking more care of myself recently, and not stressing too much. Sorry you had to see me in that state the other day. It was embarrassing.”

You shook your head. “That wasn’t embarrassing, Riki. You were being too hard on yourself, and you were having a bad day. It's normal for men to cry too, y'know.” You said, smiling, nudging your shoulder with his. Riki chuckled, and your heart leapt on seeing his smile.

“I'm just glad you didn't push me away. I was fully convinced you hated me.”, you continued.

“Hate is a strong word, you know. I think I was just intimidated by you.” You raised your eyebrows at him.

“Intimidated? By me? What for?”

‘Because you were so pretty’, he wanted to say.

“I dont know you just seemed so… intimidate-y.” You threw your head back in laughter and Riki felt like his whole body was about to combust. 

After a few moments of silence, you spoke up again.

“You used to remind me of myself.” Riki looked at you. 

“Oh? How come?” You twisted in your seat to sit facing him. 

“Funny thing, really. When I saw you, it was like I was looking at my past self through a different pair of eyes.” Riki couldn't comprehend what you meant, so he stayed silent hoping you'd tell him without him having to ask.

“I used to be the captain of my team at my previous school too.” 

Riki gasped.

“No wonder you’re so good.” 

“Gee thanks. I'm flattered, Riki.” you say playfully. 

“Anyways, I stopped playing after a while though.” Riki furrowed his eyebrows. “What? Why?”

“Because I was never good enough; for my coach or my teammates .”

What? Riki didn’t know how you thought that you weren’t good enough. Before he could open his mouth to tell you that he thought you were amazing, you continued.

“I uh… used to get bullied by my team and my coach.” 

Riki didn't know what to say. 

Now he understood why you got so sensitive at his comments. 

“My previous coach was never happy with me. So I used to train extra hard. Too much even.”

“I'm sorry, I didn't know.” was all Riki could say. 

You flashed him a genuine smile. “That's alright. There's no need to be sorry. Happens to the best of us.”

“I used to overwork myself too much, because I thought I wasn't up to everyone’s expectations. But I think… I think I ended up losing myself in trying to find validation from others. I lost all my passion towards my favourite game.”

Riki felt anger bubbling up inside him at the thought of your ex-coach overworking you and making you think you weren't good enough. 

“I was just like you— I’d wake up at the crack of dawn to go and practice, stay late after school to practise again. It was unhealthy. I wasn't taking care of myself at all.”

You sighed, thinking about your past self. “I was always unhappy. My parents were constantly worried about me.”

“So I stopped for a while. I don't know if you could tell, but every time I saw you play, I was itching to grab the ball from you and challenge you to a one on one.” You said, earning a chuckle from the boy beside you.

He smirked, “I mean, you could still do that y’know.” 

“Maybe after your game, when you're free.” You smiled at him.

“Sure, but I think we both know I'm going to win.” He challenged. 

“Oh you're on, Nishimura.”

After laughing, Riki clears his throat and faces you. 

“I'm sorry for all the comments I made to you. I didn't know about all this.”

You smiled at him. “That's okay. It's not like I was all nice to you either. Seeing you reminded me of myself and it wasn't that great, so I resorted to being mean to you as well. We’re both in the wrong.”

“But when I saw you break down the other day… I couldn't just leave you alone. I had no one to help me at that time, but I didn't want the same for you.”

Riki winced. “I know. But honestly, I have a great team, I have a great coach, and nothings wrong. It's just… me.”

It was your turn to listen now.

“As a child, my parents always told me to beware of the world. They told me how harsh it was. Probably too much for a kid to understand. So I closed off to anyone who tried to get close to me.”

You nodded, showing that you were listening. 

“They scared me, my parents. I know they meant well, but it was too much when I was just a child. I used to think that people always wanted to take advantage of me.”

Riki chuckled dryly. “I remember giving Coach Mingyu such a hard time. Took me quite a while to open up to him. But he never said anything bad to me, which again, I thought of it as pity. So I started overworking myself, to prove to … I don't know… that I don't need anyone's pity.”

You gave him a bittersweet smile. The two of you were so similar in completely different ways and situations.

You placed your hand above his, and Riki took in a sharp breath. 

“You don't need anyone's pity, Riki. You're amazing on the court. The youngest of the team being the Captain is so cool. You really need to believe in yourself more. And if you don't, I'll be here to remind you.”

Riki intertwined his fingers with yours in a silent thanks.

“You too. You seem so happy on the court. As if you're in your element, y’know?”

You smiled widely. “I'm glad.”

“Why don't we just… let this let whatever this pointless rivalry is go?” 

“That…that sounds nice, I guess. I could live with not going at each other's throats everyday.” You smiled at him.

“So, friends?”

You suck in a deep breath.

“Friends.”

You didn't know how much time had passed with just you and Riki looking at each other, conveying through your eyes what words couldn't.

Just as you were going to open your mouth to ask him something, the doors of the court opened suddenly, revealing your entire friend group.

You quickly let go of Riki’s hand, jumping apart to create some more space between the two of you.

Your friends raised an eyebrow.

“Riki..? Y/N..?” Sunoo looked between the two of you as Jungwon and Hanni giggled.

“Were we interrupting something? Should we leave?” Danielle teased. 

Eyes widening, you got up hurriedly, packing all your things and running towards your friends, not glancing back at Riki even once. 

“No, not at all! Um.. I was just packing up guys. Let's go.”

You grabbed your two friends, dragging them away with you, rolling your eyes at their teasing.

“Ooh~ Were you guys getting all smoochy in there?” 

“Shut up, oh god. I'll tell Jungwon you like him if you don't stop.”

“Oh Christ no.”

xiv.

“You like him don't you? You're thinking about him right now, don't even lie.”

You groaned. Your friends knew you too well. 

“What gave it away this time?”

Hanni sighed. “You were staring off into space, and you had this lovesick grin on your face. Yuck!”

You glowered at your best friend. “As if! Not like you're any better when I call you out for daydreaming about Jungwon.”

Hanni’s cheeks turned a crimson hue as she told you to stop.

“So are you guys… dating now?” Dani asked you and you almost choked on your rice.

“Please, we’re just friends..”

She could only smirk and shrug. 

“Sure. Don't blame me when I'll be saying ‘I told you so!’ at your wedding.” 

“Whose wedding are we talking about?” 

Sunoos' voice interrupted your conversation and the three of you widened your eyes. 

Turning behind, you saw Riki, Sunoo and Jungwon standing together, mildly amused at your reactions. 

“NO ONE’S!” You panicked, spluttering out any response you could think of, watching your friends giggle at you.

“Well, mind if we sit here then?” Jungwon asked sweetly.

“Yeah my hands are in pain from holding the tray for too long so move over.” Riki shooed you over to the side, making some space next to you.

You stared at him with your mouth open. “You have plenty of space on the other side. Why are you sitting here?”

“Are you like, blind? Can you not see that Jungwon wants to sit with Hanni?” He deadpanned and you smirked at your two friends who were now blushing.

“So, are you guys like dating now? You like each other right?” Sunoo asked, only making your best friend and her crush turn even more of a crimson hue.

You and your friends made fun of them, before Sunoo turned to you and Riki.

“Oh no, you guys don't get to laugh either. Last time I checked, you guys were eating each other's heads. How come you’re sending her heart eyes everytime you see her now, Riki?” your friend raised an eyebrow at his best friend.

It was your turn to flush red.

“Stop it, Sunoo. I swear if you don't, I'll tell your mum how you snuck out to go to Sunghoon’s party last week.”

He gasped.

“Oh you wouldn't.”

“Try me.”

You and Riki had gotten closer over the next few weeks.

His game against Riverwoods High had gone amazingly well. They had won the match by a stunning 17 points and Riki was declared the best player of the match.

You were proud of him, and you had let him know that you were. You knew how stressed he was since it was an important match.

You and your friends had gone to watch him play. (“A good girlfriend always supports her boyfriend during his matches, Y/N!”) 

As if teasing you for going to his game wasn't enough, your friends went crazy when they saw the two of you hugging after the game, when you had gone to congratulate him.

You smiled to yourself as you remembered the way he hugged you tightly. His arms felt safe. 

Sweaty, but safe.

“You look so stupid right now.”

Riki’s voice broke you out of your line of thoughts. You watched as he sat next to you on the bus, despite there being plenty of other seats for him to be seated on.

When you didn't respond immediately, he smirked. “Were you daydreaming? What the hell, Y/N that's so dumb.”

Scoffing, you hit his shoulder and watch him wince in slight pain. “Shut your mouth, pretty boy.”

“You think I’m pretty?” Although you weren't looking at his face, you knew he was smirking ever so slightly at your words.

“Don't get ahead of yourself, yeah? We wouldn't want that big head of yours to explode now.” You lightly patted his cheeks as you got up to get down, Riki following behind you.

“Well for the record, I think you're very pretty too.”

God, he wasn't going to make this whole friendship thing a lot easy, was he?

Unbeknownst to you, it was only going to get a whole lot worse from there.

While the two of you maintained a good friendship, you equally had your playful moments too. You would often play harmless pranks on him (and his team members), resulting in a prank war that would sometimes put you in detention, giggling as you both tried to keep a straight face when the teacher lectured you against your ‘unruly behaviours’.

“Sometimes I wish the two of them would just go back to being enemies.” Danielle complained one day, after seeing how sickeningly cute you and Riki looked, reading a book together in the library.

“Not me. I'm just glad I don't have to listen to Riki admire her from afar and keep denying it.” Jungwon sighed as he thought about the two of you.

xv.

Basketball was going well for you.

Word had soon spread in the school about how good you were, and soon enough, you had guys chasing after you and their girlfriends hating on you.

Although you couldn't be bothered, sometimes you wished they would leave you alone. 

“Okay team! I’ve got exciting news for you today.” Mingyu’s voice echoed through the court as you and your teammates stood in a line in front of the older man.

“We’ve gotten our first match of the season.”

As soon as the words had left his lips, multiple reactions were given. 

Yeji and Tzuyu gasped, along with some excited whispers from Yeojin. Minji and Yunjin stayed silent along with you, but smiled, happy to finally be able to play a match.

Your first match of the season.

Naturally, you were nervous. Being the Team Captain, your responsibilities would increase only more from then on. You wanted to do well.

You wanted your team to do well.

“First game of the season? That's amazing! I'm so excited for you, oh my gosh!” Your friends squealed in excitement.

“We’ll be there to cheer you on the whole time, okay?” Hanni hugged you. 

Although it wasn't a very important game, it was your first game.

Your first game after you had stopped.

Your first game with a new team, a new coach and new friends.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Riki walked over to where you were seated. You grinned at the boy. Somehow his presence always made you feel a lot more at ease.

“I was just…thinking about our upcoming match.”

Riki’s eyes lit up at the mention of your match. “Oh yeah! I was gonna ask you about it. How do you feel?”

You took a deep breath. “Honestly, I don’t know. It's pretty weird. I'm excited, but at the same time, I'm also extremely worried.”

The boy beside you nodded, urging you to continue.

“It's my second first game. You know what I mean right- And I'm the captain. I…sometimes I doubt myself. I wonder if Coach made the right decision in making captain. I keep wondering how long it'll take for my teammates, and my friends, and…you, to be disappointed in me.”

Riki frowned at your words. “You're not disappointing anyone here, Y/N. You're doing such a great job.”

You let out a long sigh at his words, not sure whether you could trust yourself to believe him. 

You felt a hand on top of yours and your eyes widened, looking at the boy who was smiling at you.

Badump. Badump.

Why was your breath hitching in your throat? Why did he make you feel like you were burning all over but safe, just by taking your hand in his?

“I’m proud of you, I really am. I know you’re still recovering from what those assholes have done, but trust me when I say that you're doing so well.”

You felt your eyes brimming up with tears, and tried to blink them back.

“And I promise to come watch your game, okay? I’ll be there to cheer you on, along with our friends.”

Our friends.

You smiled at him, intertwining your fingers with his. 

Riki felt his heartbeat increase at your action. He noticed the tears threatening to fall down your face and brought up his other hand to wipe it away, moving closer to you to do so. Placing a stray hair behind your eyes, Nishimura Riki looked into your eyes.

Your eyes which were filled with fear, worry, hope…and another emotion which he quite couldn't name.

Riki watched as you took your hand out of his, and wrapped your arms around his neck. The smell of your perfume took over his senses, almost putting him in a daze. Coming back to his senses, he hugged you back, wrapping his arms around your waist.

You let out a deep breath when you felt him hugging you back, smiling when you felt him nudge his nose into your shoulder.

‘I've got you…I’ve got you.’

He hoped you had fallen for him just as bad as he had.

xvi.

“We need to do something about Y/N and Riki ASAP.”

Hanni, Jungwon, Sunoo and Danielle were sick of seeing the two of you being oblivious to each other.

Jungwon had known all along that you would become someone important to Riki. 

The moment Riki had asked him about you, he was curious as to why his best friend had suddenly taken an interest in a new girl.

“You’re right. I can’t stand watching them like this.” Dani nodded along with the rest of them.

Sunoo suddenly gasped. “What if we set them up together? Me and Jungwon can tell Riki that Y/N has something to tell him at the rooftop and you guys tell Y/N that he has something to tell her. Make it seem like they're going to confess to each other, you get what I'm saying right?”

Hanni grinned, “That sounds like a good plan. I'll text Y/N right now. She's probably gotten out of class just now.” 

Taking her phone out of her pocket, Hanni sent you a message.

hanney: Y/N!!

hanney: Y/NNNNNNNNNNNN

hanney: GIRL

hanney: CAN YOU ONLINE

yn: YES OMG WHAT IS IT 

hanney: omg u will not believe what i heard

yn: ????

hanney: i overheard riki telling jungwon he wants to confess to you today

Your heart began to pace.

yn: what

yn: dont play w me rn 

hanney: i swear i'm not!!! Jungwon even told me later on to tell u to meet him at the rooftop in 15 mins.

yn: fine i'll go. but istg if this is some sort of joke I WILL KILL U.

hanney: u got this baby (pls trust me i'm not joking)

yn: im omw to the rooftop rn 

hanney: yayayayayayaya i'm excited 4 u 

yn: ok im here

yn: why is he with another girl um

hanney: WHAT

Hanni looked up from her phone, panicking. “Jungwon you told Riki to meet Y/N at the rooftop right?”

Jungwon furrowed his brows, checking his texts. “Yeah. He’s already there.”

“Why is he with another girl who isnt Y/N then?” Jungwon’s eyes widened.

“Oh shit.”

You watched as Riki kindly smiled at the girl who was trying to conversate with him. You noticed he was trying to look around like he was trying to look for someone, but since you were hiding behind one of the panels, he couldn't see you.

You were used to seeing Riki being approached by girls before, but why did it bother you only now?

Maybe it was because you saw him smile at her, the same way he smiled at you.

Maybe it was because you thought he was only like that with you and no one else.

You took a deep breath. What were you even thinking? He probably didn't like you back anyway. Hanni must've misheard. Why would he choose you over so many girls who wanted him?

You quietly went back down, trying not to be disappointed. You were glad school was over, you weren't in the mood to talk to anyone

The bus ride home was sour. As if the sky knew what had happened, drops of rain started falling down, as if matching your mood. The pitter patter of the raindrops was oddly comforting.

Your mum had noticed how you were feeling. It didn't take her much to understand that something was bothering you.

“Boy problems?”

Her voice startled you. You were sitting against the windowsill, watching the water create puddles on the street.

You sat up straight.

“Um… yeah, I guess. How’d you know?”

She chuckled at you, taking a seat on your bed. “I've been your age too, honey. Doesnt take a genius for someone to know their daughters having boy problems. So… who's the lad who has the honour of being liked by you?”

You giggled at your moms words, and began fiddling with your fingers at the thought of Riki. “He’s uh… His name is Riki. He’s a basketball player, just like me.” You watched your mum’s eyes light up as you told her every small detail you could remember about the boy.

You told her how you thought he liked you back and had promised to come watch your game.

And about what had happened earlier today.

“I think he likes you a lot, Y/N.”

You looked at your mom, not sure what to say. A part of you wanted to believe her, but what if he was just playing with your feelings?

“Honey, you helped him when he was having a rough time, and he made sure to be there for you when you weren't feeling alright. If he really didn't like you, he wouldn't have bothered to even look back when he saw you doubting yourself.”

“And what you saw today was probably just a misunderstanding. You do realise that him just talking to other girls doesn't necessarily mean he's interested in them right?” You nodded, feeling a bit embarrassed.

“It's nothing to be embarrassed about, okay? I'm always here if you want to talk about your boyfriend” She teased you and you whined telling her to stop.

The following few days went by in a haze.

You had so much going on. Your match was in a week, you were confused about Riki (did he actually like you back or was everyone just feeding into your delusions?).

Placing your thoughts about Riki locked away in your brain, you decided to focus on what was important.

Your match.

You had been going back to your old ways, waking up early to practice for unhealthy hours. You knew it was bad, but you needed to be perfect. 

Your friends were worried about you. You had not been responding to their messages or calls, and you weren't being yourself.

Overwhelmed by your thoughts and worries about it, you fell asleep, not realising Riki had sent you a bunch of texts asking what had happened to you and whether you were alright.

xvii.

The next morning, you left for the community centre. You were going to practice for a while before you volunteered with the kids.

You were in good shape, but you needed to be the best.

You shot a 3 pointer, it barely made it into the hoop. Fuck. 

What if this happened during the game? What if it didn't go in and your team lost, all because of you?

What if you embarrassed yourself in front of everyone and your teammates hated you?

You crumbled to the ground, succumbing to your anxiety.

“So… is this why you've been ignoring my texts?” Riki’s voice filled your ears.

Though it would've been a comfort to you on other days, today was not any other day. Hearing his voice didn't make you feel warm all over like it usually did. Instead, you didn't want to hear it at all.

You chose to ignore what he said, head still in your hands. You stiffened, feeling a figure crouching in front of you. You were afraid to open your eyes and look at him

“Leave me alone, Riki.” You hated how weak your voice sounded.

Riki looked at you, worried. He knew you were anxious about the upcoming match, but he didnt know it was this bad.

He reached out for your arm, gently, only to have it smacked away by you.

“Hey..is everything okay? I'm here for you.”

You wanted to believe him, you really did.

But he was probably just lying to you, just lying to make you feel better. You felt your worry being replaced by anger.

“You’re lying.”

Riki looked shocked. Your tone had changed.

“Wh-what?”

You slowly got up. “You're lying to me. You couldn't care less about me. You're just saying it to make me feel better.”

Riki didn't know what to say. He tried reaching out for your hand for you to once again move away from him.

“Y/N, I do care about you, so much that-”

“Save it, Nishimura.”

Riki felt hurt. He was worried about you. When Jungwon had told him to go up to the rooftop because you wanted to tell him something, he couldn't help but feel giddy.

He had thought maybe you were going to say that you felt the same way about him as he felt about you.

But you never showed up.

“Y/N, I know you're worried about the match but don't push yourself away from me– us, please. We’re all here for you. Danielle told me you weren't responding to anyones texts.”

You felt guilty. But you didn't want him to know that.

“It's none of your business, really. Now just leave me alone.”

 Riki wanted to be patient with you, he really did. But he couldn't help but start to get annoyed with you. He wasn't very good with staying calm but he wanted to try for you.

“Look, I came here because you didnt show up the other day at the rooftop, essentially ditching me and I was worried about you and your mom told me you would be here.”

Oh great. Of course she did.

“I'm trying to help you, but you're not making it very easy–”

“Oh so it's my problem now?” You found yourself raising your voice at him.

Riki’s eyes widened. “NO! No, I– That came out wrong.”

“Seriously, just leave.” You glared at him.

You couldn't bring yourself to make eye contact with him. He was clearly hurt. Giving you one last look, he walked out of the court, deciding to leave you alone.

After you had calmed down, you realised what you had done. 

‘He was only trying to help.’

Burying your head in your hands again, you felt overwhelmed with guilt. You didn't know why you had gotten so defensive and closed off. 

You wanted to run up to him and say sorry. Would he even forgive you?

You felt terrible the whole day. A part of you wanted to check on him and ask him if he was still mad at you for lashing out on him.

You didn't mean to lash out on him. Remembering the way Riki looked hurt when you raised your voice at him, you groaned.

Just as you were about to get out of your bed to go and grab a glass of water, you heard the bell ring.

Opening it, you saw your two best friends standing outside, a bright smile on their faces and a bag of what looked like snacks.

“Hey. We wanted to check up on you since you weren’t responding to any of us.”

You waited one, two, three seconds before letting the exhaustion, frustration and guilt take over you and fall into both of their arms, crying.

Hanni and Danielle were understanding.

They understood what you were going through and let you let everything out. 

“Oh honey, we’re so sorry if you felt like you couldnt tell us.” Danielle hugged you tight and you reciprocated the hug, mumbling thank yous into the air.

“Riki had texted us, telling us to check on you. We were planning on doing it anyway but he seemed really worried about you.” You straightened up the moment Hanni mentioned Riki.

“He…asked about me?”

Your friends looked bewildered. “Yeah he did. Why are you surprised?”

You hung your head, guilt creeping back in. “I sort of…lashed out on him a few days ago. He came to check on me but I was not feeling it and I took out all my anger and stress on him. I really thought he’d be mad at me forever now.”

Hanni looked at Danielle, as if putting together two pieces of a puzzle. “Oh no wonder he’s been rather…disturbed lately. We thought it was because he just missed you or something.”

Danielle sat next to you on the bed. “And… we’ve missed you too y’know. We know the game is important to you but you're important to us. And we’ve been worried about you.” 

You looked at your friends and mumbled a ‘sorry’.  Hanni and Dani both hugged you. “You've got us, okay? It's okay, just breathe.”

You were grateful for your friends a lot of the time, and now was another one of those times. Hugging them back tight, you took in a deep breath.

“Thank you.”

xviii.

You hadn’t seen Riki for the next two days.

You thought you had probably missed him during classes since you were so busy with preparing for your game, but Jungwon told you that he had not come to school. He hadn't even texted.

It worried you. Was he alright? Could something have happened to him?

Was he even going to come to your game? You weren't even sure he would come after you had lashed out at him.

The thought of Riki not being at your game made you feel uneasy. 

The next day, you walked into the court to see all your teammates ready and waiting. You looked at them, a bit confused.

“Oh, am I late? I thought we were going to meet here at 11? Or did I miss any messages?” You kept your bag down and took out your shoes, tying the laces.

“Nope. We just wanted to be early to surprise our captain and show her we’re more than ready for today's game.” Yunjin smiled.

Haseul came up behind her and offered you a bottle of water.

“We already warmed up, Cap. Thought we’d save you the trouble.” She chirped and you smiled at them, taking a few sips of the water.

“Okay then, let’s wait for everyone to start coming in.”

After you did a slight warm up, Mingyu walked in and gave everyone a pep talk and instructed everyone about the game. You listened with attention, not wanting to miss out any points.

Around 1pm, everyone had started to fill in the seats. You saw your friends crowd around the front of the seats. They wanted the best seats to see you.

Hanni had yet another banner in her hand and you giggled when you saw it, sending a heart to your friends as Jungwon and Sunoo cheered for you.

You scanned the room, hoping to catch a glimpse of the tall, black haired boy you had been hoping so dearly to see, only in vain. You told yourself that he would probably show up once the game was about to start.

xix.

He did not show up even after the game started.

The seats were mostly filled up, but the one person you wanted so badly to be there wasnt to be seen anywhere.

A shrill whistle broke you out of your thoughts.

The game was about to start.

Glancing at your teammates, you all took your positions, nodding at each other in a silent ‘good luck’.

You looked at your opposing team. They looked pretty confident, but you were more confident that you could beat them. You believe in yourself and in your team.

Another whistle and the ball was now up in the air. 

You had forty minutes to prove your worth to everyone watching.

You leaped forward and jumped to grab the ball, watching the other team captain copy your movements in an attempt to grab the ball from you. 

But you were quicker in catching it mid-air.

Now your team had the upper hand.

Your teammates quickly rushed to try to surround you to make it easier for you to get to your position.

Finding an opportunity to pass it to Tzuyu, you dribbled closer to her and passed the ball to her. She made her way towards the hoop, passing it to Haseul on the way.

You took your place near the two point box and signalled that you were open and ready. Haseul tried passing the ball to Minji but the ball was taken mid throw by the other team. You frowned. They were really quick to dribble the ball around the court to their hoop.

You signalled for your teammates to surround the opposing team and try to get the ball back in your possession. Right as they tried to score a point, Minji leaped forward to grab the ball and succeeded.

Your team scored first with a clean shot by Yunjin, who scored a two pointer. The room erupted in cheers as you gave her a thumbs up and Haseul patted her on the back.

The game continued with your team leading. You had scored 18 points so far with the scoreboard reading 26-20. The opposing team was closing in on you guys. It wouldn't be far before they caught up. You needed to step up your game.

Your team walked to where Mingyu was standing. He looked pleased with the outcome so far, but he was still very strict with his rules. He needed you guys to win that trophy. Although it was just the first game of the season, he wanted both his teams to start out well.

As Mingyu instructed your teammates on what to improve and how to identify more weak spots of the other team, you looked towards where your friends were sitting, smiling at them when they sent you signs of cheer and love.

Your eyes flickered towards the entrance door as you saw it open. Your breath hitched when you saw the person you had been longing to see for so long.

He had come after all.

Not wanting to get distracted by him, you quickly look away to avoid eye contact, deciding to talk to him after you had won the game.

Soon, the game had begun again.

The second half of the game went smoother than the first half.

Until the opposing team suddenly started getting so much better. It was almost like you guys didnt have the ball in possession anymore. They were scoring points after points after points and it was stressing you out, making you miss shots.

You were down to the last 5 minutes of the game with the score being 63-65 with your team leading. The ball was in the opposing team's possession.

You had been observing their strategy. They would try to play rough and make quick movements to steal the ball from your hands. And the sequence was always the same. Most of the shots were made by their shooting guard, Seeun, who was assisted by their power forward, Asa.

Realising that they had only one strategy, you quickly motioned Minji and Yunjin to block those two players, smirking when you saw them look at each other, confidence clearly crumbling now that their strategy was uncovered.

Yunjin noticed one of their teammates trying to pass it to Asa and jumped in and caught the ball in her hands. You let out a small cheer and ran towards your position near your hoop, watching as Haseul and Yunjin took turns passing the ball to each other and finally passed it to you.

You glanced at the clock, which showed that you only had a few seconds left before the game ended.

It was now or never.

From where you stood behind the arc, you jumped up, praying to whatever god was out there and letting the ball go from your hands. 

It was as if time slowed down as you watched the ball fly to the hoop. The whole court watched in silence as the ball hit the box on the board and fell into the hoop, scoring a perfect 3-pointer.

The room erupted in cheers. Your teammates screamed in joy as you stood there, not fully processing that you had just won the game. 

The girls ran to you and lifted you up in the air on their shoulders and you came back to reality, laughing out loud.

You had won. You had actually done it.

As your teammates dropped you back onto the ground, you hugged them tightly. They had all played so well and you wouldn't have won if it wasn't for them.

After celebrating with your team, you ran towards your coach and smiled when he gave you the biggest smile along with a hug, congratulating you on your first win of many more to come.

You ran to where your friends were and gave all of them the biggest hug you could. If it wasn't for their support, you wouldn't have even been able to reach this. You saw Hanni and Danielle tearing up a bit and you felt yourself tearing up too.

“I love you guys so much.”

“We love you too honey, but I think you've got someone else to say that to.” Your friends pointed towards someone behind you and you didn't need them to tell you who it was as you saw Riki walking towards where you were standing with your friends.

“Okay, we’ll leave you two alone then.”

Riki smiled at you, clearly thrilled at the outcome of your first match. You could only smile back even wider, running towards him and wrapping your arms around his shoulder as he wrapped his around your waist, giving you a bear hug.

“I'm so proud of you, Y/N.”

You tore away from the hug and looked at him with teary eyes. You couldn't believe he had shown up to your game.

“I- I thought you werent gonna come watch.” You sniffed, his arms still holding you close. 

“Why? What made you think that way? Did you really think I was going to miss my most favourite girl’s match?” He said, and your heart leapt.

“You were absent for days and I thought you would be mad at me for lashing out on you the other day and you didnt show up for the first half of the game so I kind of…thought you werent going to show up.” You frowned.

Riki brought up a hand to remove some of the hair that was sticking to your forehead. “Sorry about that by the way,” He sighed. “My grandma fell sick so I had to stay home to take care of her. She’s much better now, which is why I am currently standing in front of you.”

You grinned at him, before remembering you had to apologise for shouting at him.

“Riki, I'm so sorry about the other day. I was stressed but I know that was no reason to lash out at you. And Im sorry I ditched you that day on the rooftop. I did come there but you were with another girl so I got...jealous and ran away. I understand if you're mad at m-”

You couldn't finish what you were saying because Riki had had enough of your rambling. His lips were pressed against yours in the most gentle way possible and you felt your heart beating out of its cage.

He pulled back after a few seconds and placed his forehead on yours. “I know. It's okay, you weren't feeling your best, and I'm not mad at you at all, okay?”

You were incapable of saying anything to him because you were so dazed from feeling his lips on yours.

“You didnt let me kiss you back.” You murmured, too quietly for the boy in front of you to hear properly.

“What?”

You looked into his eyes, occasionally flickering back to his lips and feeling your breath hitching in your throat as you saw him reciprocate your actions.

“I said, let me kiss you back, doofus.” And your lips were on his again, which he gladly welcomed, smiling into the kiss.

It was as if everything fell into place when your lips met. His lips moulded with yours so softly which contrasted the way he held you close to him. He held you to him as if he was scared that if he let go, you would disappear.

You couldn't have asked for a better first kiss. Although it was a bit awkward at first, it melted into something so pure and full of the love that you held for each other. Riki rubbed small circles on your hip, making you feel dizzy from all the attention he was giving you.

Pulling away to breathe, you kept your faces close as the two of you broke out into wide grins.

“Oh and by the way, that girl you saw at the rooftop was asking for Sunoo hyung’s number, not mine. So youve got nothing to worry about, Im all yours.” He clarified.

All yours. You liked the sound of that.

“So…I read all the signals correctly right? You like me back?” He asked you and you could only nod, still feeling high from the kiss and your win.

“Yes I do, dumbass.” You giggled and gave him another peck for good measure. 

He pulled away a bit so he could see your face properly. “So then you'll be my amazing, talented, basketball girlfriend?”

“If you say so.”

Riki couldn't help but let out another wide smile at your response, hugging you again before leaving a kiss on your forehead.

Unbeknownst to the two of you, your friends had been watching the two of you from afar, squealing as they saw the two of you kiss.

“Ugh, finally. Took them months to do this.” Sunoo laughed, the rest of them nodding in agreement. Danielle smirked, looking at Jungwon and Hanni.

xx.

“Now it's your turn.”

AND THATS THE END!!! If youve made it till here, thank you. Thank you for taking the time to read this and I rlly hope you liked it :)

#k-labels #enhanet #niki enhypen #riki enhypen #enhypen x y/n #enhypen x female reader #enhypen x reader #enhypen x you #enhypen fluff #enhypen niki #enhypen riki #nishimura riki #enhypen nishimura riki #riki nishimura x reader #riki x reader #niki x reader #niki fluff #niki enha #niki scenarios #enhypen heeseung #enha fluff #enhypen angst #nishimura riki scenarios #riki scenarios #enhypen scenarios #enhypen sunghoon

[aliaology]

NOW THAT WE DONT TALK

summary: somehow, somewhere, cole caulfied gets yn to go to his end of the summer party down in michigan. it works in her favor due to college starting back up. pt.5

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“no fucking way, cole.” you said into the phone, sitting at the island of your brother’s house. the sliding door nearby was open, sending small gusts of wind in, causing you to shrink closer to your body.

“oh come on, please!” cole whined from the phone. cole tried his hardest, but if he tried his hardest, his party would not be held, on the hughes property.

said party will also have jack hughes— and even trevor zegras.

“cole—“ “no come on, y/n, i havent seen you in forever. i get trevor and jack will be there, but just ignore them, please. i miss you and i dont want them to be the reason we can’t hang out.” cole pleaded.

you let out a sigh. “can i bring a plus one?” you ask. you can hear cole whisper a small ‘yes!’ in victory before speaking, “of course, is it gonna be your brother?”

“uh no— i was gonna talk to sab…” you trailed off.

“i dont care who you bring, as long as i get to see you, bells.”

there is was. the nickname you had been given one summer many years ago by cole, that soon everyone in the hughes summer house called you.

he started to call you bells because of how quiet you would walk into a room, he made the joke you needed a bell to stop scaring them. fast forward, he bought you some and forced you to have them around your neck, and the nickname just stuck.

it was almost endearing at this point. not some joke.

“okay” you whispered, bringing a leg up, resting your chest against your knee.

“when is it?” you asked.

“next weekend. so is this a yes?” cole asked excitedly. “i guess so. i better get paid back for this unexpected flight.”

“fuck yeah, i cannot wait to see you, bells.”

“cant wait to see you too..”

you sigh softly, curled in a fetal position on your bed, your white comforter draped over your body. you hated how after a year, you were still hung up on your ex, who was doing way better than you.

he had a girlfriend, your best friend, hockey, he had it all. you shared your music to the world, not as an act of revenge but as a way to pour your heart out and see if people have and are going through the same thing.

you feel lucky to know you have yet to receive a message from jack, or even his girlfriend. that doesn’t mean you havent seen the comments though.

quinn commenting every once in awhile kind of scared you. what was he telling jack? what was he telling trevor? what was he saying about you in general?

but you and quinn had a good relationship, he was practically your third older brother (right behind your actual one, and auston!). you went to him for advice about jack, or to complain about jack.

luke and you also had a good relationship. one that crumbled when you and him had a small argument over your break up with jack, and him ultimately choosing his brother. you didn’t blame him though.

sad fact is, is you believe that all the hughes brothers were your soulmates in some form. quinn and luke were your platonic soulmates. jack was your romantic soulmate, in every possible way. but not anymore,

jack is on your mind constantly. all you see is him everywhere you go. all the time its just him.

you wanted it to stop. jack was practically your roman empire and god you needed to find a new one.

but hey, at least you don’t have to pretend you like acid rock anymore, because god some of his playlists for game days were bad.

but he was happier now, right? with his new girlfriend who definitely dissed you online..

maybe its a good thing, yknow? now that you dont talk..

tags: @honethatty12 , @slaythehousebootsdown13 , @lovinbarzal , @outrunangelss , @absolutelyhugh3s , @hockeyboysarehot , @shadowsndaisies if u want tags, lmk <3

#hockey #jack hughes #nhl imagine #new jersey #new jersey devils #nhl #nhl hockey #jack hughes x reader #quinn hughes #luke hughes #trevor zegras #cole caufield

[milaisreading]

Helloo~ i just wanna lyk that im so freaking obsessed with your blue locks fics specially sae x isagi’s sister y/n. If you don’t mind can you please do a sae x isagi sis reader where oliver wants to get back together with the reader only to find out that shes already in a relationship. Sae got jealous and publics their relationship slsksksk i dont even know if i make sense but i live for possessive sae ❤️‍🩹🔫

🌱🩷: I hope u like what I wrote! Thanks for reading and the request 🫶🏻

Warnings l: Reader uses she/her. Requests are open

⚽️Blue Lock belongs to Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yusuke Nomura ⚽️

Sae Itoshi wasn't a particularly jealous person, he never had much of a reason to be jealous. He had the talent it takes to become a football player, the looks, and for the most part important connections in the football world. He was never much of affectionate person either, if you ignore the brotherly love he used to give to Rin. But that pretty much changed when he agreed to the request of playing at a match between the Blue Lock team and Japan's U-20 national team. As Sae expected Rin was there and he wasn't surprised by the progress Rin made. What did surprise him were 3 things: 1. how well the opposing team was keeping up, 2. the ace of Blue Lock, a no name to Sae, leaving most of the team in the dust with his tactics, and the 3rd thing was a certain yell he heard in the middle of the match...

Sae hid his surprise as he heard the girl from the spectators spot yell at the ace, which shocked his team as well. Sae stared at the girl, trying to make out her features as he heard Oliver sigh.

"What's up with you?" The rehead asked.

'Can this guy think of anything else?' Sae wondered, already suspecting what Oliver might say.

"Isn't she just beautiful? God, she used to yell at me like that at times." Oliver smiled warmly, something that surprised Sae. He never looked fondly at anyone.

"You know her or?"

"We used to date a while back... I really messed that one up."

Sae kept quiet as Oliver spoke and shortly after left as his coach called him over. The redhead couldn't wrap his head around that one.

'Oliver used to be in a real relationship? And he was still hung over about it? Weird...' The redhead thought, glancing between Oliver and the girl.

"Sae!! What are you thinking about?" The redhead shook himself out of the memory and looked over at (Y/n), giving her a small smile.

"Nothing, I was just remembering the time I first saw you."

"Oh? That time I walked into you, yeah. That was embarrassing." (Y/n) laughed with a flustered face as Sae stared at her with the same smile.

"Yeah, but you were really cute with that surprised expression. Your clumsiness didn't change much since that night either." Sae chuckled, grabbing her hand as they made their way out of the stadium.

"Hey, it did get better. Don't be mean." She scolded him back. Sae stared at her for a moment, running his eyes over her frown.

'Adorable!' He thought as he poked her cheeks.

"Hey!" (Y/n) protested, getting more embarrassed but didn't remove his hands from her face.

"Anyway, how was your practice today? Yoichi said Luna-san is getting a lot more stricter with the team." She commented as Sae took her hand again. The redhead stayed quiet for a moment, observing the night sky before looking back at her.

"Yeah, he is a lot more on edge, but it's mainly because we have that upcoming game with Ubers."

"That's right, Yoichi did mention that last night to me. But, I am sure you will do great like always." Sae's face grew red at the flattering words and cleared his throat.

"Of course. You know me." The rehead said back, his voice much more cheerful than the usual one. This, a much softer side was something he only reserved for (Y/n) to see. He just wished they could stop hiding this relationship, wearing a mask during summer and in Madrid wasn't the best thing. But, to stay with (Y/n) he would do it.

'Besides...' Sae thought as he looked back at (Y/n), who was lost in her own thoughts at the moment.

'This side of her, the embarrassed, funny, and loving version of her is something only I want to see for now. This side only belongs to me.'

Sae was never more greatful for the mask that hid his red face.

Later that night, Sae was at (Y/n)'s apartment and waiting for her to join him to sleep. He was mindlessly scrolling through his phone when (Y/n)'s phone beeped, signaling that a message arrived. Now, the older Itoshi wasn't someone to pry on other people's phones, especially of his girlfriend so he just ignored it.

'If it is important, she will tell me.' Sae thought to himself. After about 5 minutes, another message arrived and (Y/n) entered the room again.

"I am so tired." Sae glanced at her as she yawned a little.

"Cute." He smiled to himself as he watched (Y/n) grab her phone only to see her frown in confusion.

"What happened?" Sae asked, growing a little worried from her reaction.

"Ah... it's just that Oliver texted me, weird." She mumbled, laying on the bed next Sae. The said boy grew annoyed at those words, he was aware of their history and he didn't enjoy the idea of them being so close. But, it's not like he can tell her who to speak to.

"What does he want?" Sae tried to sound disinterest as he pulled her into a hug, smiling as he felt her relax in it.

"Just said he will arrive in Madrid in 2 days for the match and that we should meet again." She said, reading through his messages. Sae's eyes narrowed a little and his hug tightened as (Y/n) wrote something back, then put her phone away.

"I won't go. Besides, I like spending that time more with you." She answered honestly and kissed Sae's cheek, which caused him to blush a little, kissing the top of her head in return.

"Good. I love spending that time more around you, too."

'I need to do something about Aiku. I know very well that he still has some feelings for (Y/n), and while she will reject him, Aiku isn't one to give up.' Sae kept thinking as he watched (Y/n) slowly fall asleep.

'Should I finally announce the relationship? I like it like this, tho... What to do?' The redhead sighed, burying his face into her hair.

"Hmmm..."

The day of the match had finally come and both Re Al and Ubers were doing good so far. It was half time break right now and the status was 2-1 in Re Al's favor, and bot scored by Sae with Isagi and Luna's help. The team wasn't sure what was going on with Sae, but they weren't complaining. Now, the older Itoshi did plan on scoring when the chance was given to him, but what made his determination skyrocket was what Isagi told him earlier on.

Prior to the game...

"Hmm? I see Aiku still didn't give up." Sae looked over at Isagi as he finished his warm-ups.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean Aiku is still trying to win big sis back. I thought he gave up 2 years ago." Alarmed by those words, Sae looked over to where Oliver was, and sure enough he was talking to (Y/n) about something.

"He wants her back?" Sae asked, his eyes narrowing as (Y/n) moved away from Oliver a little.

"Yeah, he still likes her a lot. He told me earlier when they arrived here that he plans on asking her on a date later on. I told you to come clean with this relationship earlier." Isagi sent Sae a look before going to where his sister was.

'Aiku wants her back? No way will I let that happen.' Sae thought to himself, finally making up his mind over everything.

'I will defeat Aiku, then show him and the whole world to stay away from her.'

And true to Sae's promise, Re Al ended up winning the game, with the redhead surprising everyone with his performance today. And while Luna and the rest of the team were flocking him with praises, Isagi and (Y/n) were standing to the side on the field as the cameras and press walked over to Sae, probably excited for some answers. (Y/n) smiled the whole time at Sae, happy to see him get all the compliments.

'Proud of you.' She thought as someone tapped her shoulder.

"Huh? Oh, Oliver! Great game there! You did great today." (Y/n) said as she saw the taller standing behind her.

"Ahh~ wish we won, though. But, I am happy you liked it. You look quite good today, but I would like it more if you wore my jersey than your brother's."

"Well, I like Yoichi's more!" (Y/n) said back, a little nervous by his words.

Isagi, who was standing close by moved over to where they stood.

"Aiku, don't you have a team to go after?" He asked, a little irritated and worried. Sae was already pissed at Oliver for wanting to win his sister over, if he heard of this now...

And, as if luck wasn't on Isagi's side today, Sae saw the interaction and it was his final straw. He quickly pushed his way past his teammates and press, ignoring the shouts as he walked closer to the trio.

"I am so tired of this." Sae narrowed his eyes as he gently grabbed (Y/n) and turned her to face him.

"Huh? Sae?" She wondered in surprise as a blush covered her face.

'He was never like this in public! Weren't we supposed to be lowkey?' She thought as Sae grabbed her face and moving her closer to him.

"Let's make this official now." He smiled softly, pulling her into a kiss. And, while she did hear the people's gasps, Oliver's shocked yell, and Isagi saying 'finally', she didn't feel as embarrassed as one would expect. Instead, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. Sae enjoyed this reaction, and he will enjoy this even more when he sees Oliver's defeated expression.

'She is mine. He better back off...'

#bllk #blue lock anime #blue lock manga #blue lock x reader #bllk x reader #blue lock scenarios #isagi's sister #blue lock requests #sae itoshi #bllk sae #blue lock sae #sae itoshi x reader #sae itoshi x y/n

[lunavrse]

PURELY PLATONIC(?)

CHARLES LECLERC

summary : are yn and charles dating? are they just friends? who cares? well, twitter does. category : smau. note : disregard all times and dates, they don't matter. all spelling mistakes are intentional. this wasn't supposed to be my 1st fic posted but it is what it is.

INSTAGRAM

like by pierregasly, youruser, landonorris and 658 422 others.

charles_leclerc finally got to see ma crevette

View all 2 172 comments

youruser thought we'd agreed that you'd never call that in public ever again

charles_leclerc no, you said that, i was silent

user2 were you silent or were you silenced😭

youruser you're such a pain in my arse

charles_leclerc you love me really

youruser unfortunately

username67 SCREAMING CRYING THROWING UP SOBBING

user08 they're so friends to lovers coded

username12 SHE DIDN'T DISAGREE!!!

pierregasly didn't you see her 2 months ago? when you flew out to see her

charles_leclerc that was forever ago

pierregasly *cough*whipped*cough*

this comment was deleted by creator

user8 I SAW THAT, YOU CANT HIDE FROM ME

user92 HE FLEW OUT TO SEE HER😭😭

user5 did anyone see pierres deleted comment or was it just me?

user16 no, I saw it too

user7 me too!

landonorris relax bro, no one's taking her away from you

charles_leclerc I'd like to see someone try lol

user99 adding lol to the end of your sentence didn't make it less threatening 💀

user420 *joker voice* why so serious??

user111 LANDO, WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THIS??? ANSWER ME PLS, I AM IN YOUR WALLS

lunavrse pls pretend the manips look good👍 also the last one is just a random picture bc I couldn't edit it the way I wanted

user25 what the fuck are you on about?

user72 what is bro yapping about?❗💀

user7 WHO LET BLUD COOK⁉️❓❗❗

user222 monaco's finest😋

user00 them in the 1st pic have my heart

user000 UGH,, HIS DIMPLES!!!!

mutualfriend she's serving and then there's you

user777 two pretty best friends🤭

user66 two besties😁

user33 yeah... besties...

user92 REUNITED AND IT FEELS SO GOOD...

user29 REUNITED CAUSE WE UNDERSTOOD

user929 i love this song

user127 I KNOW Y'ALL SEE THE "MY" INFRONT OF THE PETNAME

user24 WE LOVE TO SEE IT

user9 that's honestly so fucking cute I'm crying

user88 charles repping ferrari where ever he goes!!!

user237 suprised it's only the one tbh

user228 as he should!!!

user1616 THE WAY HES LOOKING AT HER😭😭😭

user090 face cards never declining ❗

user10 charlito te amo❤️ !!!

user47 never knew i needed this until now

user74 so real bro

user27 please back away from my wife, it's hard enough seeing her with another man and you have the audacity to rub it in my face😭

user123 two best friends in a room... they might kiss

user262 can we talk about how close they are??? like they just seem so touchy!!!

user751 no fr!!! you can't tell me they're not in love with one another

user12 see if he was touching me like this, you'd never see me again because I'd be deceased

user61 so real of you tbh

user767 pls they're so...

user50 im not allowed to see these, im unwell

user44 you look so cute !

TWITTER

MESSAGES

TWITTER

INSTAGRAM

landonorris has posted to their instagram story.

you replied to their story.

YOU DUMB BITCH DELETE THIS ⤷landonorris SORRY, IT WAS MEANT FOR MY CLOSE FRIENDS

you replied to their story.

DELETE THIS YOU CLOWN ⤷landonorris DONT YELL AT ME! I'LL DO IT NOW

you replied to their story.

is that charles and yn

lunavrse replied to their story.

this is the worst manip in this post<3 (editing note: it's actually not, it gets worse)

you replied to their story.

LANDO IS THAT CHARLES AND YN

you replied to their story.

Lando mate, they're gonna kill you

you replied to their story.

I KNEW IT, MY FAMILY SAID I WAS CRAZY AND THEY CAN KISS MY ASS

you replied to their story.

Carlos owes me €100, I knew it'd be you. can't wait to attend your funeral

this story has been deleted

TWITTER

INSTAGRAM

liked by charles_leclerc, pierregasly, landonorris and 712 273 others

youruser suprise but not really🎉

View all 7 252 comments

landonorris does this mean I get to live?

youruser you're funny.

landonorris what do you mean?!? please don't kill me

youruser see you soon x

charles_leclerc we look so good❤️

youruser the best baby❤️

user19 BABY SHHSHSHE

user91 IM SCREAMING, CANT BELIEVE I GET TO SEE THIS

pierregasly glad i don't have to suffer alone and the rest of the world gets to see how gross you guys are

charles_leclerc weren't you the one who sent me a voice note crying about how happy you were when i told you i finally asked her out ?

youruser aww, pierre, you cried???

pierregasly he's lying

charles_leclerc do you want me to send her the voice note?

user65 it's quiet, ain't no back talk🤭

user80 charles said, i've got receipts bitch💀💀

user71 THEY LOOK GOOD TOGETHER!!!

user22 idk who i want more

user505 me and who?

user005 me n u?

user505 lol no

user101 IMS O USED TO GIVING ANDN OW I GET TO RECEIVE 🥹

user41 PARENTS

user14 IKTR😌

user06 IM SO GLAD WE GOT (OFFICIAL) CONFIRMATION

user003 god, me when?

user79 i want both of 'em😋

user25 I need to know when this happened 😭

user87 same😭

#lunavrse writes(?)⋆ #charles leclerc x reader #f1 smau #f1 instagram au #charles leclerc instagram au #charles leclerc imagine #f1 x reader #f1 social media au #f1 imagine #cl16 x reader #f1 fic

[angeart]

Tips for not getting stressed out from writing, coming to you live from someone who has done this for 18 years and got a degree in it:

- remember that you write for fun. This is the big one. You write because on some level you enjoy it. Sometimes you gotta lasso that abd reel it into your heart and hold it there so it stays.

- keep compliments close at hand. And i do mean this literally. I print out AO3 comments and friends compliments and keep them in a jar to pull them out at random when I need a little brain boost. I keep a folder of screenshots of nice things people have said on my pc.

- accept that not every day is going to work out. Even the best authors have days where the words wont work, days where they wont flow at all. Its okay to take a step back and not worry about it. Refer to my first tip: youre doing this for fun, you dont have to force yourself

- get silly with it. If youre really having a day where you want to write and its not working and its frustrating you but you cant put it down it is TIME for the sillies. Set a tiner. 5, 10 minutes. Write whatever comes to your brain. Fully turn your editor off. I get sentences like "And the doh turned blue and whacked rhe tennis ball with its tail into the bridge". Utter nonsense. It helps to get the wiggles out

- handwriting can also be helpful. I keep several journals, and glitter pens, and fun markers - sometimes doing the task physically instead of digitally helps to get the wriggles out.

- sometimes you have to accept an idea is not working. It takes experience to figure out when this is, but youll get there. Come at ideas from different angles, back out entirely and rewrite older scenes to make new scenes work.

I hope these help you!!!

thankyouuu for sharing these!!! <3

it's true that the positive comments are always a great motivation. maybe i need to start a collection for myself. indulge a little. (shut up the eternally dissatisfied part of my brain-)

i'm honestly struggling to find a balance between knowing i write for fun, and the pressure of it. (they're happening simultaneously, sometimes seemingly too closely intertwined.) but maybe one has more weight than the other, and i have to realise that only one of those should really hold any priority.

i'm very tired now, but i'll be rereading all these again later and letting them settle in gently. thank youu

#ange answers #writing tips #for staying safe and sane

[whois-jess]

Can I have Rhea x Fem reader with the prompt "I'm never afraid with you"? Pretty pls make it fluffy my anxiety has been acting up

With you

Of course <3

Rhea Ripley x Fem!reader

I was in the living room scrolling through Instagram and tiktok seeing what's going on, Rhea was in our room probably doing the same.

I was scrolling on tiktok was i saw one post saying how Rhea deserved better, my heart panicked and i click the comments which were saying things like 'on lives Rhea looks so uncomfortable with Y/n' or things like 'y/n is so annoying Rhea is a goddess on the earth i mean...' I was scrolling down them my heart beating fast as i saw the things videos where saying the same thing, once i saw one video i was seeing loads i feeling fidgety thinking 'did Rhea thinks this? I am annoying?'.

Thoughts flooded my mind what if Rhea was cheating because i wad annoying maybe she doesnt love me? I fell into a rabbit hole of videos, fans zooming in on moments Rhea would look unhappy with me around then her with people like Damian or Dom. I was afraid of losing her she was my favorite person the one thing that truly made my day better made my smile real.

I was still looking at them tears forming as anxiety grew i heard footsteps and i quickly hid my phone turning it off so she wouldnt see i wipe me eyes "hey baby" she smiles sitting next to me "hi babe" i smile my heart hurting as she takes her phone out again watching videos "you okay your a bit quiet baby" she smiled at me her smile was soft and calming her eyes had worry and trust in them "yeah i am fine" i said looking at my hands playing with my shirt "well that doesnt look okay to me" she says her hand going onto my thigh her hand was warm but the metal of her ring cool on my skin "its just.." I played with my shirt even more scared of what she will say "its just i saw some clips and it just made me worried" i didn't look into her eyes not wanting to see her expression "oh baby...what was the clip" she says her tone showing no change staying clam and soft her accent showing through "it was people saying how i don't deserve you and it worries me that its true and i m afraid you will leave me or hurt me your the best thing i'm never afraid when i am with you" i didnt look up tears falling into my lap when i feeling her warm hands cup my face "baby you deserve everything i would give you the world if you wanted it, i love you" she smiles our eyes locking onto each other as she speaks "it...it just worries me" i admit she was the only person i trusted with my feelings "i know they arent fans they are haters who just want to make people sad my real fans loves you i love you babe dont be afraid of me leaving because death will be the only thing taking me away from you" her warm smile never left "i'm never afraid when i am with you, you make the world stop" i smile my eyes a little red tears drying on my face as i looked into the eyes of the woman i love and loves me.

#rhea ripley #rhea ripley x reader #wwe judgement day #wwe x reader

[cryptidghostgirl]

Hello hi- back to my shenanigans again (the one with the fake dating + lobby portal + frozen half the pentagram surely not an OC ahahah anonymous asker) - anyway- heres some MORE angst.

Reader's past lover- died waaay before reader back in their teens because readers mother found out about their not so heterosexual relationship and decided to shoot them both but only killed one- reader escaping and killing her mom in return (let’s name her Charlotte- with mane wolf features- so wolf+fox+deer features a combination! ) and barely moved on after meeting Alastor like years later, yet still haunted by Charlottes dead eyes reader saw when she woke up from some sleepy poison. Now Charlotte is in heaven and reader in hell alongside their radio-lover lover!

Yet somehow- maybe though a very uncanonical accurate meeting where angels go down to see the new hotel after hearing sinners can get redeemed Charlotte (not to be confused with Charlie) is one of said angels and suddenly all those waves of emotions come rushing back and reader can do nothing but stare.

but oh wait! Angels/Winner dont remember their past life so reader goes to her- and shes just “Oh hello! Whats your name? :3” (shes an angel and loves the stars and plants and everything nice can do no wrong) “I-… I guess you dont know me in this lifetime” (AND DOESNT TELL HER THEYVE MET BEFORE because what good would that bring?)

But alastor is also there lurking in the back. watching them- he knew someone was in readers life before him but reader never said more than that. Will readers feelings for Charlotte come back? Will reader stay to the infatuation of murderous acts that Alastor bought them? Will reader choose the pure love that might not spring again?

The infamous blizzard demon overlord! that never dropped their mask around others that always seemed to have the upper hand in any situation, the cold- charismatic- brutal and ruthless overlord- suddenly speechless at the reappearance of someone they used to know. How will everyone react?! “Sweet as a pea, but sharp as a knife- now shocked like the stars have fallen”

GAAAH MY BRAIN IS TOO BIG ANF FULL OF ANGST!!!!! Heres some kisses too: maybe next fic its me x you pookie 😘😘🥰🥰😘😘😘😘

A/N What a wild way to close off a request, I honestly got so much respect for that. I don't do OCs but for the sign off comment, I'll make an exception. Also I am assuming you want this as a part two to Frostbite because she's still a blizzard demon?? Apologies in advance if I got that wrong. Also,, not you quoting something else I've written in your request. That's crazy, thank you so much for the love.

Day Lilies (Alastor x Blizzard demon!Reader x Angel!OC)

Pairing: Alastor x Reader

Part One: Frostbite (Alastor x Reader)

Warnings: Homophobia (from other people and internalized) and murder. Smoking/cigarettes and angst. Always angst. I think that is it, please correct me if I am wrong.

Word Count: 2,969

Master Lists:

Master Lists 

Hazbin Hotel Master List 

Alastor Master List

Click here and leave a comment if you want to be added to any taglists or send me an ask about it.

The best thing about the Hazbin Hotel, according to some, was the fact that not one but two overlords who had found a home there. The Radio Demon and the Frost. Feared, revered, respected, and making an appearance for the first time in seven long years.

Without Alastor and Y/n's help, Charlie would not have been able to achieve all she had and she was eternally grateful to the pair, even if they were a tad confrontational and violent at times. Deeply in love, indebted to one another in a billion and five different ways, Alastor and Y/n had worked hard for their life in the underworld. As the angel stepped gently out of the portal, following her superior, Y/n felt the pressure of that life as it began to crash down around her.

When Charlie had struck the deal with Heaven to have an angel come down to the hotel to track its progress and assess if any of its inhabitants were worthy of redemption, Y/n had thought nothing of it. Sure, it was a bit irritating but if anything, the deal seemed ripe for entertainment and thats really all she and Alastor were after at the end of the day. She had figured the angel would be some low ranking nobody. She had thought it would be amusing, that they would torture the poor creature, that things would stay roughly the same. Never in her wildest dreams had the notion ever crossed Y/n's mind that the angel might be Charlotte.

Of course, Y/n had known Charlotte must be in Heaven. The girl had always been so kind, so good to her very core. It had just all seemed so far away and now, somehow, there she was, peeking timidly out from behind the seraphim's back.

Charlotte looked different, having taken on some animalistic, wolfish features since her death. Sharp ears sprouted from the untamed mess of her hair, fangs peeked their way out from the corners of her lips but Y/n was sure. It was Charlotte. It was all in the eyes.

"Welcome, Sera." Charlie politely began, taking a step forward.

Normally, such a show of self restraint from the young demon princess would have caused curiosity to spark a fire in Y/n's chest. Now, she just stood beside Angel as Charlie had requested, eyes wide and mind reeling.

"Is this who we will be working with?"

Sera looked at the shy wolf of a girl behind her and nodded her head, gesturing for the girl to step forward.

"Yes." she replied, her voice cold and haughty, "This is Charlotte, she has been with us for a while and we trust her judgment on matters such as this."

"Oh how funny!" Charlie brightly exclaimed, "My full name is Charlotte too but, I go by Charlie. Do you have a nickname you'd prefer?"

"Just Charlotte is fine." the angel softly replied and Y/n's breath caught in her throat.

The girls voice was honeysuckle, it was sticky sweet teen love.

"Why her?" Husk asked and Charlie shot him a glare, "She just seems a little..."

Sera laughed lightly, a caring smile sneaking on to her face.

"She's a little shy, but she is smart. Even when she was alive, she had an ability to read people, to see right through to the essence of their beings."

Charlotte blushed slightly at the compliment, turning away.

The southern sun beat down over head, long grass whipping at their legs as Charlotte, running, dragged Y/n to the center of the field.

"Lottie!" Y/n exclaimed, half laughing, "Where on earth are you taking me?"

Charlotte glanced back at her companion, a mischievous smirk painting her lips that sent bolts of red hot fire through to Y/n's fingertips.

"You'll see."

After a few more paces, they came to a panting halt. Charlotte turned to Y/n, placing a hand gently over the other girl's eyes. With a guiding hand, she lead the blinded girl to a spot a little ways off where she had snuck off to earlier and set up a picnic. There was fresh fruit, Georgia peaches from her family's own orchard, and home made lemonade. Slowly, Charlotte gifted Y/n with sight.

Y/n's mouth fell slightly open as she surveyed the scene before her. Sixteen and in love, she turned to Charlotte, taking both the girl's hands in her own.

"When... how..."

"I know things have been rough at home lately. I wanted to do something to make you smile."

"How did you know? I never..." Y/n cleared her throat, "I never said anything... I nev-"

"You didn't have to. I know you, love. You never have to say a word."

Alastor watched his lover silently from the other side of the group. Charlie had insisted they flank the guests, dragging Y/n away from his side just as the portal had opened. She didn't show it, not obviously, but he knew something was wrong. From the second the portal had opened and the angels had stepped through, she had gone tense, her eyes fixed on the one called Charlotte, the tips of her frostbite blackened fingers tapped against one another in wild thought.

"Well," Sera sighed, looking around at the ragtag group of sinners and demons, "I had best be on my way. I will be back in a few days to pick Charlotte up, please be kind to her over the course of her stay."

With those parting words and a reassuring pat on the angel's shoulder, Sera stepped back through the portal which closed behind her.

"Well," Charlie began brightly, clapping her hands together, "let's do introductions! I am Charlie Morningstar and I run the Hazbin Hotel with my girlfriend, Vaggie."

Vaggie sent Charlotte a wave which she timidly returned. With a deep breath, Charlotte stepped towards the line of sinners before her.

"Alastor." Alastor hummed, grabbing Charlottes hand and shaking it harshly, "A pleasure to be meeting you my dear, quite the pleasure."

It struck Charlie as a bit odd he said and did nothing else but, she made no mention of it. In her mind, Alastor was simply on his best behavior as requested. In reality, he was far too focused on the way a slight flurry of snow had begun to settle on Y/n's sharp shoulders.

"Nice to meet you too." Charlotte replied, extracting her hand from his grip and moving down the line.

Y/n's heart pounded wildly against her chest as Charlotte grew closer. Her tail twitched behind her, flicking back and forth gently, and her breaths grew slightly heavy. Although he noticed the odd behavior, it was impossible not to from his place beside her, Angel said nothing. At long last, Charlotte came to a stop before her.

"Disgusting!" Y/n's mother's voice rang out through the yard, "You are both complete and utter disgraces!"

They hadn't meant to be found out. As far as Y/n's mother had known, Y/n and Charlotte were best friends. Charlotte had come over to help Y/n with her chores, they had been doing laundry out in the yard when Charlotte had playfully flicked water towards her beloved. One thing had lead to another and before long, they had been wrapped up in one another, planting a singular, soft kiss on each other's lips. Y/n felt Charlotte's hand tighten around her own, she took a step forward.

"Don't you dare speak to her that way!" Y/n yelled back, anger burning brightly in her eyes and adrenaline shaking her limbs with wild courage, "Don't you dare!"

Her mother scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"She is a bad influence on you! The devil sent to curse me!"

Y/n's mother stepped forward, grabbing Y/n and wrenching her from Charlotte's grip. Charlotte tugged at Y/n's mother's dress as she dragged her girlfriend harshly into the small house.

"Let her go!" Charlotte cried, "Stop it! We weren't doing anything wrong!"

With a harsh slap to her face, Charlotte was sent to the ground. Her mother threw Y/n through the door, the unfinished wood of the floor sending splinters deep into Y/n's knees as she struggled to get to her feet. Her head had hit the corner of the table in her fall, the world was spinning. Y/n's mother grabbed the shot gun from where it lay beside the door. Just as Y/n managed to stumble to her feet, holding her swaying body up with a hand on the table she had hit, her mother stepped outside and slammed the door behind her, locking it.

Y/n rushed over, trying desperately to wrench it open to no avail. The anger had turned to panic as she heard her mother cock the gun.

"What are you doing!" she heard Charlotte yell and Y/n rushed to the window.

From her vantage point, Y/n watched her mother train the gun on Charlotte who had her hands raised and was stumbling backwards.

"Run!" she yelled, banging her fists on the glass, "Lottie, run!"

"Please." Charlotte was pleading, tears wetting her cheeks, "I promise I wont ever come here again, I wont ever come near her again. Please!"

"Lottie!" Y/n yelled again.

With no regard for her own safety, Y/n punched the glass of the window. The pane shattered around her hand, puncturing her soft skin. Blood, hot and wet, ran down her arm as she pulled her hand back to her side.

"Yeah, you sure as hell wont!" Y/n's mother yelled, her voice thick and low with rage, "You'll be dead!"

Y/n flung her leg over the window sill, shards of glass digging into her as she pulled herself through the hole she had created.

"Lottie!" she yelled again, "Run!"

Her screams were drowned out by the sound of a gunshot. Charlotte held her hands to her stomach, blood pouring from between her fingers. Their eyes met.

"Lottie!"

"And you are?" Charlotte asked expectently.

Y/n shook her head slightly, pulling herself from the depths of her memories. Everyone was staring at her, she had no idea how long the angel had been standing before her. She cleared her throat.

Alastor didn't know what was going on but, whatever it was, he knew he didn't like it. Using his shadows, he appeared behind Y/n and placed a protective hand on the top of her head between her horns. Her hair was damp from freshly fallen snow and Charlotte gasped slightly in surprise at his appearance.

"My dear," he grinned, leaning down to Y/n's ear, "you're snowing."

"I..."

Y/n looked up, her cheeks flushing pink and the heart on the tip of her tail puffing up as she realized what he said.

"O-oh." she stuttered, brushing his hand from her head and the snow from her shoulders as she regained control of her powers again, "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me."

The other members of the hotel watched in a mixture of shock and confusion. They had always known Y/n to be cold, to be harsh. They had always seen her devotion to the man behind her as infallible. No one had any idea what was going on but, the presence of the angel stopped them all in their tracks.

"It's quite all right, what's your name?" Charlotte asked again, her voice honey sweet.

Y/n took a deep breath, morphing her features into the closest thing to a kind smile she could muster.

"Y/n." she firmly replied, "I'm Y/n."

Her eyes scanned Charlotte's face intently as their hands made contact. She waited for the shock of recognition, for the tears her Lottie had always been so prone to. There was nothing.

"That's a very pretty name." Charlotte replied, "It sounds like it is from the same era as mine."

That raised some small hope in Y/n's chest. She took a step forward, bringing herself closer to the angel.

"Which is?"

"Oh, I don't know." Charlotte replied, her cheeks flushing pink with embarrassment, "Angels don't get to remember their lives on earth unless they are pretty high in the ranks. I've been told I was from Georgia though, that I died in the early 1900s."

Y/n froze, her breath trapped in her chest, a knife buried deep within her heart.

"Oh." she mumbled out in a broken whisper, "I guess you... you don't know me in this lifetime."

"What was that?" Charlotte asked, leaning in a bit.

Y/n shook her head, letting go of Charlotte's hand.

"Nothing. I... I need some fresh air, I think. If you would all excuse me."

It didn't take Alastor long to find Y/n once Charlie had let him return to his duties in favor of showing Charlotte around the hotel. She stood out in back of the hotel, her back pressed firmly against the wall and a cigarette crushed between her fingers. Shakily, she took a drag.

"What was that about?" Alastor asked, leaning up against the wall beside her and folding his arms across his chest.

"What was what about." Y/n cooly replied.

"Y/n, don't play dumb."

"I knew her back when we were alive, thats all."

"Is that all?" Alastor asked after a moment, "You seemed..."

He trailed off. Alastor was angry. He had always been the jealous type, protective to a fault. He could see how shaken up Y/n was however and so, running a finger over the ring he wore, Alastor took a deep breath.

"That angel, Charlotte..." her name lingered poisonously on his tongue, "it seemed there was something a lot more than just you knowing her."

"I picked these for you." Y/n bashfully stated, shoving a bouquet tied with a rough bit of twine towards the pretty girl beside her, "Here."

Tentatively, Charlotte took the bouquet from Y/n's hand. She held it gently, watching the way the breeze played with the petals.

"Georgia asters?" Charlotte hummed thoughtfully, "And yarrow?"

"My momma didn't used to be poor. She grew up in a rich family, gave it up when she married my dad. Her momma taught her floriography." Y/n's words came out in a big rush, they chased after one another in a breathless flurry of nerves, "It was big in the victorian era for fancy people, all about talking through flowers. She taught me asters symbolized wisdom, faith, and valor and that yarrow was for healing and... and love... besides, I know you like them. You're always staring at them when were out."

Charlotte looked over at Y/n who's cheeks were bright red. She smiled, her eyes shining.

"I love you too." she said, nudging Y/n gently with her elbow.

"Yeah, but..." Y/n sighed, running a hand through her messy hair, "I... god, Lottie! I don't just love you like a sister. Its... I understand if you don't wanna talk to me anymore I just couldn't... I couldn't keep it in anymore."

Y/n looked away, tears pressing hotly at the backs of her eyes. Charlotte's eyes went wide.

"I understand... I won't be mad... I just... I'll leave."

Charlotte's hand shot out, grabbing Y/n's wrist as she pushed herself from the fence they were leaning against. Slowly, Y/n turned to face her. Charlotte was blushing now too and looked away, still holding Y/n tightly.

"I don't..." she took a deep breath, "I don't love you like a sister either."

"It's wrong... it's so wrong... what would my mother say... what would your mother say, I-"

Charlotte cut Y/n off, standing on her toes to press a soft kiss to the slightly taller girl's lips. It was clumsy and foreign. Y/n trembled, her eyes fluttered shut.

"I don't care." Charlotte said, "I don't care."

"Yeah." Y/n sighed, taking a final drag from her cigarette before stamping it out beneath her heel, "Yeah."

"Do I have anything to worry about?" Alastor asked and Y/n's eyes met his.

He had known her long enough, he could see the conflict.

"She was my first love, Al." Y/n admitted, "We were girls together."

"You're my wife."

"It's different."

"Do I have anything to worry about?" Alastor asked again and Y/n looked back out at the sky.

"She doesn't remember me."

"But you remember her."

"But I remember her." Y/n confirmed, her voice cracking, "I couldn't forget if I tried. She haunts me, Al. She has always haunted me, since long before I even met you. Lottie died in my arms, Al. My mother killed her, shot her right in the stomach. I...."

Y/n trailed off into silence. It was more about her life before she had met him than she had ever revealed before. Alastor took a deep breath, conflicting emotions battling behind his eyes.

"What are you thinking about?"

He was trying to keep his cool, to save face. He was failing, anger and a secret fear ate away at the edges of his words.

"Day lilies."

"Day lilies?" Alastor repeated and Y/n nodded, meeting his eyes once again.

"A floriography thing again?"

Alastor knew of Y/n's interest in the symbolic properties of plants. It was one of the only things she ever spoke about concerning her mother and her shadowed past before that night in Mimzy's bar.

"Yes."

"What do they mean?" Alastor sighed, resigning himself to his fate because god, if Alastor knew anything he knew his fate was Y/n. She held his heart in the palms of her hands.

"Love for lovers. Love for mothers..."

"And?"

His heart pounded against his chest.

"And loss of memory."

----

TAGS:

the ones in red are ones I am not sure worked/having trouble linking.

@willowshadenox @i-love-jafar @elfyeet @reader3 @lazygirlfanfic0-0@kahlan170@wendyphan01203-blog @fairyv-ice @clarakainda @lunaramune @mcueveryday @luxky-aish @peterpankat @corvid007

#hazbin hotel #x reader #alastor #hazbin alastor #hazbin hotel alastor #alastor hazbin hotel #alastor the radio demon #x reader fics #fic writer #hazbin hotel x reader #alastor hazbin hotel x reader #hazbin hotel x y/n #hazbin hotel x you #alastor imagines #alastor fanfiction #alastor x reader #alastor x y/n #alastor x you #oc #reader x oc #angel!oc #hazbin hotel oc #requested #requests #request #the radio demon x reader #radio demon x reader #the radio demon #radio demon #alastor angst

[lecl3rq]

STOP PLAYING WITH US!

pairings : charles leclerc x singer!reader

infos : smau. fc : madison beer. song : glue song - beabadobee.

summary : in which you guys have "broken up" for the better, yet can't seem to stay away from each other

yourinstagram

Liked by charles_leclerc and 1.937.414 others

yourinstagram we've decided that it would be better for us end this relationship. please dont send any negative response to him as this was a decision that both of us talked about. thank u charles for the past 4 amazing years, thank u for making me know what its like to feel loved. thank u for making me feel enough on those days i dont feel good. i love you forever 💗.

Comments on this post has been limited..

8 September 2022

charles_leclerc

Liked by yourinstagram and 1.144.678 others

charles_leclerc Me and y/n have decided that it would be best for the both of us to end this relationship. It has been an amazing 4 years in this relationship, but good things comes to an end eventually. Please do not send any negativity towards y/n, this is a decision that we both took. Thank you y/n for loving me as who i am with all my flaws you call are perfection. I love you to the moon and back always and forever 💗.

Comments on this post has been limited..

8 September 2022

hollywoodfix

Liked by yln.updates and 154.037 others

hollywoodfix Charles Leclerc (@.charles_leclerc) and Y/n Y/l/n (@.yourinstagram) today in Monaco.

Are these two back on the romance cloud?

View top comments..

user1 HELLOOO??? ARE THEY BACK TGT

ylnsgf4evr give them some privacy, weird asf photographing them like this.

keysnorris tbh i dont rlly like paparazzis but rn im thankful they exist BCS WTF.

view more comments...

10 January 2023

yourinstagram

Liked by charles_leclerc and 2.023.140 others

yourinstagram happy valentines day. heres a new song for u all out on all platforms now! surprise in slide 2 btw. i love u 💗

view top comments...

ynylnsgf4evr I WAS RIGHT. FUCK U TO ALL WHO SAID I WAS DELUSIONAL. I WAS RIGHT

charles_leclerc je t'aime mon cheri 💗

keysnorris i love their emoji thing sm i cant

starshopping YAY I ONLY HAVE ONE DIVORCED PARENTS NOW!!

lilymhe I LOVE THE SONG SM not as much as i love u tho, slide in my dms if he ever fucks up again bb 😘

yourinstagram of course, ill hit u up rn ml charles_leclerc Hey! alex_albon what is the meaning of this???

_ bonus <3

_ IM SORRY THIS WAS RUSHED AND IF IT FEELS LIKE IT HAS NO PLOT LMAOO, I TRIED MY BEST THIS IS MY FIRST TIME MAKING SMAU. ILL TRY TO DO BETTER NEXT TIME.

#charles leclerc x reader #charles leclerc #charles leclerc fluff #charles leclerc x female reader #charles leclerc instagram au #instagram au #charles leclerc imagine #charles leclerc smut #charles leclerc instagram edit #formula one #scuderia ferrari

[hockeyandhrsepwr]

Birthday boy

*little Trevor Zegras x best friend (👀) reader insta edit for his birthday**

yourusername

liked by jamie.drysdale, _quinnhughes & others

Yourusername happy birthday Fucker  

view all comments

📌 Yourusername I’m just joking, happy birthday to the best friend a girl could ask for!! 🫶

TrevorZegras wow, really feeling the love

jamie.drysdale you know what you did 

TrevorZegras no I dont?! 

jamie.drysdale right, it’s what you didn’t do

Yourusername ☝️

Jackhughes happy birthday Z

TrevorZegras at least someone appreciates me

Yourusername did he feed post for you?

TrevorZegras now that you say that…..

Yourusername Doesn't even use your full name

Youusername not even a story post either smh 

JackHughes I’m busy!!

Yourusername this is why I’m the supreme best friend not you

JackHughes Trevor!! Tell her she’s wrong

TrevorZegras I can’t

Jackhughes what does she have over you?

Jamie.drysdale too much lol

Anaheimducks our favourite swiftie finally hit his TS birthday 

Yourusername that he did

ColeCaufield Feeling 22

Yourusername wow Cole, so original

ColeCaufield we were all thinking it!!!

Yourusername but only you said it

TaylorSwift happy birthday Trevor!!

Jamie.drysdale what the hell?

TrevorZegras………

Yourusername did I not tell you we’re friends

TTerry19 He’s sat in his stall gaping like a fish. You’ve shut him up for once

Yourusername Thanks for the update Troy

_alexturcotte That won’t last long

TrevorZegras 5 years we’ve been friends 

MasonMctavish23 oh Jesus, here we go

jackHughes The betrayal speech?

Masonmctavish23 yes sir

Yourusername is he monologuing yet?

Masonmctavish23 unfortunately 

Shattdeuces hes recording it because he's too worked up to type it for you rn

yourusername 😂 I've heard it before

_quinnhughes Happy birthday annoying brother #6

Yourusername Quinn I love you for that

lhughes_06 Happy birthday Zeegs, can we circle back to this? Who the hell are #3-5

Yourusername I’m assume Turcs is in there somewhere 

_quinnhughes yep, Alex & Cole & Dylan

lhughes_06 what?

Dylanduke.25 I’m honoured 

User16 Trevors in best friend jail 🤣

User72 wonder what he did

User12 the comment section correction

User22 no one seems to have noticed it😂

Yourusername They saw it, they’re just choosing not to acknowledge it

TrevorZegras

liked by JackHughes, anaheimducks & others

TrevorZegras best birthday present I could’ve asked for #upgrades #shesmygfnow 

view all comments

Yoruusername that has to be the lamest hashtag ever. Are you 12?

Masonmctavish23 mentally yes

Yourusername true

Jamie.drysdale can’t believe it

_alexturcotte FINALLY!!

Jackhughes the gc is going wild rn

Jamie.drysdale so ours!!

Colecaufield he actually did it?

jamie.drysdale 30 minutes ago, I’ll send you the video

Jackhughes me too!

_quinnhughes just add him to the GC 

Yourusername that’s why youre the smart one Quinn

_quinnhughes thanks. Good luck with him 

Yoruusername oh hes a handful 😏

Jamie.drysdale yuck

mattboldy couldn’t have waited 2 fucking weeks Trev?

_alexturcotte oh shit, I won!!

Cam.York damnit!

ColeCaufield I was off by two days😭

TrevorZegras You were betting on us? 😦

Jackhughes duh

Anaheimducks obviously 

Colecaufield dude you’ve been in love with her since high school

Yourusername it gets reevaluated every 4 months for new dates

_johnbeecher we're on the 10th round I think

TrevorZegras yourusername YOURE IN ON IT?

Yourusername to quote one Jack Hughes “duh”

TrevorZegras dont bring him into this!! 

Yourusername You wouldn’t get your head out of your ass! I could’ve at least made some money from it

TrevorZegras you could’ve made a move!!

Yourusername nah why would I do that

jamie.drysdale you could just have this conversation. You’re sitting across from each other

Yourusername shut it Jim

TrevorZegras yeah, zip it

User24 the Ducks admin betting on Trevors love life wasn’t on my bingo card 

Anaheimducks Its the whole team!! 

TrevorZegras Jesus how many people are actually involved?

Yourusername Secretary Alex?

_alexturcotte at this date, 65

TrevorZegras WHAT!!

Yoruusername yep, you’ve just made Lex a very rich man

Tterry19 atta boy!!

Masonmctavish23 be honest, its just so you can meet TSwizzle

TrevorZegras shhhh 

Yourusername 🤨

TrevorZegras I’m joking, I love you very much 

Yourusername 😌

User727 always thought they’d be a good couple

User71 best friends to lovers? Elite trope

User02 FINALLY!!! I’ve been waiting for this!

User542 Bestie we all have!!

User98 65 people betting 😮

User62 I’m just wondering how much Turcotte will actually make

Yourusername it’s at least 4 figures! Everyone had different amounts

Xxx

#trevor zegras #trevor zegras x reader #jjs insta edits #anaheim ducks #trevor zegras fic #trevor zegras insta edit #quinn hughes #jack hughes #jamie drysdale #cole caufield #alex turcotte #nhl #nhl imagine #hockey imagine #hockey instagram au

[low-budget-korra]

Comments on Netflix's Avatar The Last Airbender

*spoiler alert*

First of all I'm gonna start by saying it is one of the best adaptations I've seen so far. And that's the key word, adaptation. I've seen a lot of fans and others complain about some things that honestly, doesn't make sense because some things only work in a cartoon(just as much as some things only work in a book or a video game)

And before I start to talk about some topics that I judge important, I also wanna say that the production is fantastic, from the costumes to the CGI. It all looks amazing. (A part from Yue's wig)

1. The Script

It's not easy to pick 20+ episodes and make it fit in only 8 but damn they did a hell of a good job, especially when judging what was important to show and what they could let it go. Some fans commented that since there's no fillers, the Gaang and others miss some development but I think that for the universe of the live action what we got here it worked.

I can express how much I like to see Ozai and Azula's relationship and how it is now clear that he uses the siblings against each other, manipulating them to get what he wants. But I will admit I miss the fear Azula had, since it's implied in the show and some extras that she does fear Ozai, and fears becoming like Zuko.

I hope the 41. Is just fine after the battle in the north. See all of them bowing to Zuko after discovering that Zuko was the one that saved their asses and was heavily punished by that...it was beautiful. I loved the writers did that, give names and faces to Zuko's crew and a beautiful yet sad arc when Ozai banished his son and the men who he saved.

I also loved that they put weight into things that was treated as a joke, like Katara talking about her mother. She was a little kid who saw her mom get murdered in front of her and the live action made sure to let us know that it is not okay to make jokes about something so traumatic. All of the deaths here have tons of weight in it, it's not some random person, is someone we met, someone we liked, someone who helped. The costs of the war, something the cartoon manages to show us but know in live action, with real people, the massage gets stronger.

And they didn't forget Iroh's past like the fandom does, which is great. That actor, the earthbending soldier really let it all out, that's how you use the few screentime you have.

Sokka's isn't sexist and y'all were making a storm outta a cup of water, is not like Sokka sexist didn't go away after like the 4 or 5 episode in the original show. I think the live action was able to bring more depth to him in comparison to the first season of the cartoon. We see how he feels about his father's, the absence of him and his duty as warrior who kinda doesn't want to be a warrior.

I need a Gyatso in my life, I didn't know I needed to see more of him until the live action gave us more of him. Kyoshi was the Thor coming to Wakanda from this season, WHY THE FUCK BRYKE DONT WANNA GIVE US A KYOSHI SERIES? She is absolutely a jewel of a character. Roku and Kuruk, damn poor Kuruk man, so much pain in his words but again that's what it means to be the Avatar, it's not fun and games. Zhao saying to Aang what Korra villains said to Korra😭 that the world doesn't need the Avatar anymore, it hurt.

Guys I'm gonna say it, there's no way in hell for anyone to ship Kataang here. I'm saying this because some shippers complain that the secret tunnel part was different but c'mon, look at Kiawentiio and look at Gordon, it would be so s awkward and weird and just wrong. I know they don't have a big age difference, is only like 3 years but when they filmed Gordon looked so much younger than her, maybe in the next seasons the difference won't be that big.

The pace is good, once you start you don't wanna stop.

2. The Acting

Everyone is really good at capturing the essence of it's characters and somewhat making them their own. The highlights for me were Dallas and Ian, Its like they came straight from the show. Ken Leung's Zhao was also amazing as he was way more threatening here than he was in the show.

Kiawentiio was the Katara we were looking for, she is kind yet strong, brave and caring. And Gordon was Aang, sure, he has to learn a few things since he slipped a few times in his acting but nothing that could ruin the experience, that kid is good and just needs some experience.

Elizabeth Yu was Azula. It was different but yet the same character, is like learning something new of her and I like how cleared she show emotions with her eyes. Maria Zhang had great chemistry with Ian and I can't wait to see more of Suki. Arden Cho and Yvonne Chapman as June and Avatar Kyoshi look like they came out straight from the cartoon. Daniel Dae Kim...man is Ozai, so cold, so sharp, so scary, already way better than the cartoon version. I wanna see more of Paul Sun-Hyung Lee as Iroh since the character he really starts to shine in book 2.

3. The live action doesn't have the spirit of the OG?

Yes, it does have. The thing is now that we are seeing real people, things get dark one way or another but I don't think it ruined the spirit of the show. Aang is still a kid, Sokka still making sarcastic jokes, Zuko still annoying as hell, Katara still hopeful and strong... There's everything there really.

The thing is stuff like genocide, murder, war, death and suffering are, for some people, better to watch as pixels in a cartoon than real people.

I think it's a great adaptation and I would recommend it to every fan.

#avatar #Netflix #netflix avatar the last airbender #avatar the last airbender #the last airbender #avatar aang #avatar kyoshi #avatar roku #avatar kuruk #sokka #katara #azula #uncle iroh #zuko #zhao #atla #tla #comments on #korra #avatar korra