#and this album is such a close collaboration between the two of them

[septembersghost]

I can't get over Taylor and Jack sampling OOTW in Question...? it's so blatant that it makes it funny to me

she really said: let me be as clear as possible, i've got some things to ask, and i want everyone to know exactly who i am asking

harry edward styles: welcome to your tape

...it's just a question 🙂

#i keep thinking of the grim reaper door meme that kept going around with joe j/jg/jm and didn't include harry and i get that but #it turns out she did have a few things left to say #it's also sweetly nostalgic since ootw was the first thing she and jack created together #and this album is such a close collaboration between the two of them #something about the full circle journeys across this record #anonymous #letterbox #haylor

[lmskitty]

The JJk fandom has some INCREDIBLE writers and artists and I just felt like showing a bit of love so here are some of my fave Satosugu fics!!!

Audience by @c-valentino

"Three years after the KFC breakup, Satoru caves and visits his old friend late at night with a problem. They are far from what they used to be, but when he hopes they might get a second chance after all, assassins show up to hunt down Suguru."

As you like it by planetarypedxng

"Ieiri Shoko has laid down the law: the three of them will hereafter hang out only at Geto’s place, because Geto is the perfect host, and because Shoko refuses to clean up after anyone, least of all men, and because Gojo’s room always disgustingly reeks of sex.

Gojo had laughed at that, a little too loudly, perhaps, and curiously did not have a single comment about it. What can he say? The truth? That he was still a virgin?"

Falling in love is easy. Admitting it is not. By @ellionwrites

"At 20 years old - sharing an apartment and joint Jujutsu missions - Geto and Gojo are inseparable. But it takes Geto going on a first date for them to start to figure out their feelings."

Two sorcerers chillin' in a hot tub (five feet apart cause they’re not gay) by @hollow-lime-green

"Geto Suguru has almost two decades of practice pretending not to see things that are clearly there, and Gojo Satoru has a well-documented history of being the most socially-stunted motherfucker alive.

That’s how they got here.

Love is in the hands by @thequeenofsarcaasm

That’s also why neither of them know where the hell they’re going with this."

To be a woman by @sadgreekboys

"After getting kicked from his home for being queer, Geto Suguru comes across his old best friend/first love, in a gay bar. He finds a new home in him."

close your eyes (nothing changed at all) by themoonisdead

"Satoru is the strongest. She is a woman. She is not meant to be those two things at the same time.

VIRGIN GETS WRECKED BY BEST FRIEND [FREE PORN VIDS] (18++) WATCH NOW!!!!! By Daisy__dupes

"That day in xx village, suguru makes a call" -what if Suguru had called Satoru for help that day?

Over the Threshold by @fushiglow

(Satoru gets hit with a sex curse and asks Suguru to help him!!!)

4AM by damiselart

"Larger than life K-pop idol, Satoru, approaches introverted record producer, Getō Suguru, to collaborate on his debut Japanese-language studio album. They both get more out of the experience than expected — for better and for worse."

(Tattoo artist Geto and model Gojo. Hot as fuck.)

Post-It Notes by monochromevelyn

"Shoko was sick of watching her two best friends pining for each other. Don't worry, she had a plan to move things in the right direction."

The Two-Headed Calf by malneiro

"Gojo gets a knock on his door late at night: Getou is sick and Mimiko and Nanako don't know who else to turn to."

Vows to Amida Butsu -

" Gojo has a great idea. Geto thinks his classmate should at least ask him cutely instead of just announcing his intent. Consent is important, after all."

and Long Bitter Autumn - both by Daphnerunning and Galiko

"Five years after his best friend left Jujutsu High to become an evil overlord, Gojo Satoru can't sleep. And there's not THAT much difference between a butt dial and a booty call, semantically speaking."

There are so many amazing satosugu fics and most of the writers listed here have multiple incredible fics but these are just some of my absolute faves!!!

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

#satosugu #fic rec #goge #geto x gojo #jjk smut #satoru x suguru #gego #gojo x geto #stsg #sgst

[fruitmins]

Agust Dad—Four

➭ summary: Your a producer from another company that he happened to be collaborating with on his 2nd album D-2. At the release party— one drunk action leads to another, you do the worst thing you can do in the industry and change your fate forever.

➭genre: short series, pregnancy au, idol au, angst, dad au

➭warnings: a couple cuss words, mention of abortion

<next part>

note: this was supposed to be done yesterday, oopsies. Updated the tag list for everyone who wanted to be on it and some of them don’t work for some reason

Taglist: @welcometomyworld13 @tatyhend @jiminiesunicorn @littlestarstinyseven @baechugff @thelilbutifulthings @tearykth @familiarlikemymirror3 @coree730 @prajusstuff @wobblewobble822 @choisoorin @manuosorioh @0funsite0 @whipwhoops @bergandysam @aloverga @illnevertrustmyselfagain @silentreadersthings @butterymin @girl-nahh @linneasblog @cuntessaiii @nikkiordonez12 @chl0buggy @serendididy

A week later, Yoongi is at your house again. But this time it feels like a dream.

Unlike the last visits, there’s a nice and expensive car parked outside with tinted windows. And also unlike the last times, he attempts to cover up his face.

He has a mask under his chin with black sunglasses that matches the black beanie he has on to cover most of his hair.

You hate that he still looks nice.

You take your eyes out of the peephole and open the door to greet him face and to face. You also have glasses on the cover your eyes (and the black bags under them) and a mask.

“You didn’t have to walk me to the car..” You mumble as you step out and close the door behind you.

“In a neighborhood like this, and a porch like this...” his voice trails off as he glances around the outside of your house with a slight repulsed expression.

You roll your eyes as you step down the stairs and to his car, quickly pushing back the thought of him actually caring about you on the way down.

“The company hadn’t really blew up yet,” you say in response to his comment on your house. “Which is probably why they sold their souls to HYBE..” you remark in a low voice as you get into the passenger seat.

You hear Yoongi snicker at your comment as he gets in the drivers seat but doesn’t say anything else. It's only a few days since he first found out that the baby was his. In the subsequent days, you've spoken at length with him about the situation.

He let you know that he had done you the honors of canceling your original appointment and setting something up with a more professional and private hospital that worked with celebrities and idols. Even though he thought you would freak out about it, you didn’t. It just shows further that he seems committed to being involved in your baby's life, which is a relief but also makes you nervous.

The two of you show up at the clinic together, and it's the first time you've spent time one-on-one since you got pregnant. It's also the first time you've properly spoken, without the usual tension between you.

Yoongi walks alongside you, his expression soft and his gaze almost gentle but also serious.

The time passes in a flash, and before you know it, you're in the room, getting an ultrasound with Yoongi standing next to you, his eyes glued to the screen as the doctor goes about her work.

Your eyes are also glued to the screen. There’s no isn’t much on it, the baby being small and it doesn’t even look human. But you can’t help but get slightly emotional at the sight of it.

“Wow,” the doctor exclaims, taking off the stethoscope out of her ears and putting it on yours instead. The other end is pressed against your stomach, and your eyes widen when you hear a fast heartbeat in your ears.

It isn’t your heartbeat. It’s your baby’s.

Your glossy eyes trail over to Yoongi, listening to the heartbeat as the doctor pull as away to look at her clipboard. She writes something down and then takes the stethoscope out of your ears. “You wanna listen, dad?” She asks Yoongi, catching him off guard.

You can tell he is caught off guard, his eyes flicking to you and then to the doctor. He swallows a lump on his throat and silently walks over to you. The stethoscope slowly goes into his ears and you watch his body freeze as his dark brown eyes meet yours.

“Well, your baby is very healthy congratulations.” She starts off as you try to tear your eyes away from Yoongi’s. “And you’re due sometime in early or mid March.”

Her sentence damn near knocks the wind out of you. This time, Yoongi’s emotions are clear to you, his eyes widen slightly and filled with emotion. You can’t help but chuckle at the crazy circumstance.

Yoongi’s birthday was in March.

You weren’t planning to go back to work until the morning sickness died down, but you can’t help but feel a different sinking filling in your stomach when you stood outside of your bosses office after he called you in.

You take a breath and walk in the door, your feet immediately freezing when you see much more than your boss in the room.

Bang Si-Hyuk.

Hitman Bang.

This couldn’t be good.

“Ah, Ms Y/N. Please, sit down.” He says when he notices you, gesturing towards a chair by the table he was sitting out.

Cautiously, you make your way to a seat and sit down and just when your butt hits the chair, the door opens.

You grow pale when you glance up and see Yoongi walk into the room. He doesn’t notice you right away, but when he does he lets out a curse under his breath. “Shit.”

This definitely wasn’t good.

“Ah, Yoongi. Come sit.” Bang says, his smile only widening when he sees Yoongi. Yoongi goes to take a seat across from you but he doesn’t seem to be thrilled that he is here.

It’s quiet for a minute, Bang Si-Hyuk just looking back and forth at you and Yoongi, analyzing the two of you but you can’t even look at Yoongi. The tension between the three of you is almost palpable.

“Just curious, how do you two know each other?” He speaks after moment of silence that feels like years. You shift uncomfortably in your chair but can’t bring yourself to answer. You can’t even bring yourself to look at him as he talked.

Yoongi doesn’t bother saying either his gaze looking entirely unperturbed but even he can’t stare at his boss. He clearly anticipated that something like this would happen, and he's not ready to defend you just yet. It was like the two of you were caught kissing under the bleachers and were in the principals office.

“You must know each other well seeing as though Yoongi took you to a private doctor and stayed in there with you through the whole thing and then came out holding hands.” He speaks again in a daring and mocking tone but the two of you stay quiet, your heart thumping as he brings up the private doctor.

“Well, maybe the HYBE employee who saw you got it wrong. Maybe he was misunderstood the situation,” he says again, taking a pause as he leans closer to you. “Why were you there? Was it an abortion?”

You see Yoongi’s eyes snap up to his boss at the corner of your eye. His gaze hardens and he clenches his jaw. Si-Hyuk notices this as well and glances at you and then back at Yoongi with a dry chuckle.

He leans back and folds his arms, opening his mouth to say anything but you speak first before he can say anything else bold to provoke an answer out of Yoongi.

“It was my seven week ultrasound.” You sprout out, your eyes widening in shock as if you weren’t the one that said it.

It gets quiet again as Si-Hyuk slowly turns to look at you, looking amused as he lets out a long dramatic sigh. “Ms, are you aware that having relations with someone in the same company is not aloud?” He asks calmly and your eyes widen.

Your mortified. Panicked and scared. Your worst fear was coming to life. You were going to loose your job. As the reality of your situation starts to set in, your face heats up and you feel your heart in your throat. Si-Hyuk isn't kidding, and you're about to lose your job.

"Boss, I don't think you understand. It was a one-night thing–"

"A one-night thing that resulted in a baby." Si-Hyuk says in a clipped tone, cutting you off.

“Expect she wasn’t at the company when this happened.” Yoongi speaks up quickly for you, who is to busy panicking and frozen to point that out yourself.

“Still, no relations with one another are aloud here.” Si-Hyuk responds calmly to him.

“There is no relations.” Yoongi rebutted quickly and you can’t help but feel a sharp pain in your heart at his words, almost physically flinching back.

You don’t know why, put there’s a sting that washes over you at how fast he responded. How fast he denied having any connecting with you, days after he listened to the baby’s heart rate.

You know you’re sensitive, that maybe he was just trying to help keep your job. And you shouldn’t feel heartbroken but you do. And you hate that you do.

“Great, so you’ll have no problem with me firing her.” Si-Hyuk snaps you out of your trance, your face paling as your eyes widen.

Your eyes snap towards Yoongi in shock and you catch him get a glimpse at your mortified face as he shakes his head and cusses again. “Shit.”

“You know this isn’t fucking fair. There are laws. You can’t fire her over this.” He argues as Si-Hyuk basically laughs in his face.

“Watch me.” He says simply and you don’t know if you want Yoongi to keep defending you or want him to shut up instead. Before anyone can speak again Si-Hyuk turns towards you again. “Y/N, you’re fired. I expect your things to be cleared by tomorrow evening.”

Your mouth falls open in shock, and the color drains from your already pale face. Your heart thumps at his words, too stunned to speak as tears cloud your eyes, making your vision blur. “Wait, please-“ you try to plead in a panic.

You had just switched to this company and it was your only money source. You knew that being a solo producer was inconsistent and you were likely to get scammed by whoever you worked with.

“You’re dismissed.” He cuts you off quickly, gesturing to the door and your to stunned to speak more. You’re to shocked at everything that you can’t even peg for your job back. “Yoongi, I still have things to discuss with you.”

With a heavy breathing and a pained feeling in your chest, you slowly get up from the chair, bowing to him to side the tears in your eyes before quickly stumbling out of the door.

You can't believe that you just lost your job, all because of a mistake you made in a moment of weakness.

When you’re in the hallway you hear Yoongi start to yell at him but you can’t make out the words, you don’t want to know. You just want to get far away, and cry. All you wanted was for this day to go by normally, but instead you've been faced with the reality of your situation.

Your boss doesn't care.

Your future more uncertain than it was before.

You start to walk down the empty hallway, hugging your arms as tears fall uncontrollably as you let out a sniffle. The weight of someone’s hands on your shoulders snap you back to reality. When you turn around your face to face with Yoongi.

It’s Yoongi.

“Hey, I can try to change his mind or pull some strings—“ he tries to say but you just shrug his hand off your shoulder.

“Haven’t you done enough?” You snap at him with a harsh tone but it doesn’t even make him flinch. “I have nothing now. All because you wouldn’t leave me alone like I told you to.” You have tears in your eyes, because despite everything, you desperately wanted this to work. Because you desperately wanted everything to be okay.

“So just leave me alone now, please.” Your voice shakes and is filled with emotion. Your words seem to have the effect of taking Yoongi by surprise. His arms drop to his sides and his body language shifts, his focus turning inwards. You can almost see the thoughts racing across his head.

He looks like he wants to say something too, like he is carefully picking out his words before saying them. But you don’t want to hear anything he has to say. You don’t want to see him. You don’t want him to continuously make a mess of your life.

You know how whiny you should and that you should be grateful to have an idol who isn’t willing to leave you in the dust, but you can’t help but wish he had.

He pauses for a moment and lets out a sigh, before speaking. “I have a feeling that’s going to become impossible Y/N.” He states, much to your confusion.

“And why is that?” You ask him suspiciously as your cheeks start to dry up and you let out s sniffle.

“Bang what’s to get ahead of this before the media does,” he speaks cautiously and carefully, tip toeing around the point and that makes you even more anxious. “He isn’t going to use your name, but in case someone found out he didn’t want any trace of you at the company to avoid a scandal so he had to fire you—“

“Use my name for what?” You cut him off firmly, taking a step closer to him as you look at him straight in the eyes.

“I told him I want to be in the baby’s life,” your heart beats faster at his words. You were telling him to stay away after he just told his boss he wanted to be involved. He hasn’t cracked yet.

He continues, “So before anyone else can find out, he’s releasing a statement saying that I’ve been in a two year relationship and have a baby on the way.”

Great.

#bts fanfic #bts x female reader #bts x reader #bts one shot #bts imagines #bts scenarios #bts fluff #bts reactions #bts x you #yoongi x you #yoongi x reader #suga x you #suga x y/n #bts stranger to lovers #yoongi fanfic #yoongi fic recs #bts dad au #bts pregnancy #bts ot7 #bts idol au #suga x reader #bts pregnancy au #yoongi x y/n #bts fanfction

[thefallennightmare]

Just Pretend-three

*gif created by me. feel free to use, simply give credit*

Parings: Noah Sebastian x Reader

Warnings/Tropes: language, angst, fluff, smut, star-crossed lovers, right person/wrong time, cheating, talks of mental abuse.

Summary: “I can wait for years, heaven knows I’m not getting over you.” A story about two star-crossed lovers, that always find their way back because their souls are entwined. The universe desperately attempts to bring them together, no matter what the cost.

Authors Note: i hate how this took me all day to write. I just want to keep writing this story!

Collaborating With: @thescarlettvvitch(better give her all the love as well)

Tags: @thescarlettvvitch @ozwriterchick @waake-meee-up @notingridslurkaccount @niicoleleigh @sammyjoeee @xxrainstorm @dominuslunae @notmaddihealy @malice-ov-mercy @crimson-calligraphyx @iknownothingpeople @writethrough @thebadchic @blackveilomens Claudia on Tumblr @tobe-written @blacksoul-27 @loeytuan98

I sat in the front lounge area of our bus on the couch with my legs crossed, laptop in my lap, as I scrolled through the Spotify playlist I finished creating. It was quiet up here, the rest of the guys of Hollow Souls were scattered throughout; Malcolm was out for a run around the block, Chase was hanging on Bad Omens bus, and Trey was still asleep in his bunk.

It was only 9:30 in the morning but I knew he would sleep most of the day away especially since it was our day off. We were already at the next city, parked in the venues lot, and since we didn't have to worry about sound check or setting up yet, we all did our own things.

Me? I had been debating all morning if I should create this playlist but in the end figured it was the best thing to do. I was touring with Bad Omens after all, shouldn't I be familiar with their songs?

For the next while I let Noah's voice blast through my headphones as I danced in my seat as Limits played, banged my head as Hedonist screamed in my ear, and felt my heart fall out of my ass when his soft voice of If I'm There buried deep in my soul. The lyric struck me right away and the pure raw emotion that oozed out of Noah made my heart skip a beat, almost as if I was about to pass out.

Fuck what Trey thinks, I need to watch these guys perform tomorrow night.

Malcolm came bounding up the steps, sweat dripping from his auburn hair that was falling around his bare shoulders in waves, and gave me a smile.

"Okay two things," I scrunched up my nose as he sat next to me. "How the fuck do you run so early in the morning, with your hair down no less? And you fucking stink."

"Oh, listening to our tour buddies I see," he ignored my observations by nodding to my laptop screen.

I shrugged. "I was the only one of us that wasn't familiar with them and now I'm pissed it took me so long to discover them. They're amazing."

Malcolm agreed with a nod. "Noah's voice has grown so much from their first album, it's actually impressive. It would be sick if we got him on a song for our next album."

"Trey would immediately shut that down. He hates collab's between artists," I closed my laptop and set it on the small kitchen table next to me.

Malcolm sighed while running a hand through his long locks. "We really should talk about-."

"No," I sliced my eyes into him. "I'm not having this conversation with you when he's a few feet away from us. We can talk about it later when he's not around."

"Alright," he nodded. "I'm going to hop in the shower. Chase still with the Bad Omens guys?"

"I think so," I answered, watching as he stood and made his way to the bathroom.

"Cool. You should get ready, we're going to hang with them for the day. Wear something cute!" Malcolm called over his shoulder before the bathroom door shut.

I blinked slowly at the space in front of me for a few moments before staring down at my outfit; black leggings and an oversized shirt. Which would have been fine for a day of lounging on the bus but going out in public called for an outfit change.

And that Noah will be there has nothing to do with it.

Ignoring the voices in my brain, I trekked over towards my bunk where I had a suitcase already open, clothes folded neatly into small piles and rummaged through before deciding on a pair of biker shorts and one of our merch shirts I rolled up the bottom of to show off part of my stomach. It was a warm day in Wisconsin so I wanted to be comfortable.

As I slipped on my docs and finished french braiding my hair, Malcolm emerged from the bathroom also dressed and ready to go.

He nodded in approval. "Much better."

I snorted and patted his chest while walking past him. "Glad you think so."

"I think you should change your shirt though."

"What's wrong with my shirt?" I asked suddenly self conscious about the way I looked. "If it's showing too much, I can change-."

"Fuck," Malcolm sighed. "Trey's warped your mind so bad. No, Y/N. You look great, I'm just saying it would be better if you wore this."

He tossed me a different shirt, one I caught with ease, and when I held it in front of me I gave him a raised brow.

"Really?"

"Meet you at the OMENS bus. I'll text Trey to let him know where we're at," Malcolm pounding his knuckles with mine before leaving the bus.

With my bottom lip caught between my teeth, I decided not to dwell too much on the decision of wearing the shirt. That's all it was, a shirt. If he got upset about it, he can fuck right off. Once changed in the new shirt, I realized it was a bit long since it clearly was Malcoms who was atleast a foot taller than me. The shirt rested about mid thigh and covered most of my biker shorts. I let out a few deep breaths to center and calm myself, because the idea of hanging out with the guys without Trey made me nervous.

Yes that was it, not because Noah was going to be there. Ever since we hung out the other day, all I could think about was his tattoos or the way he instilled so much confidence in me as he spoke deeply about my lyrics. No one has ever had an in-depth conversation about my lyrics before since they all thought Trey was the one that wrote our songs. The only thing Trey was good for was his screams, which I had to admit were faltering. Our energy and connection on stage wasn't the same anymore but thankfully, none of the fans cared to notice. As long as Trey dared them a glance, they were happy.

So with the confidence from my conversation with Noah the other day, I walked out into the warm morning sun, bare legs and arms on display for everyone to see. While my right leg had no tattoos, every inch of skin was covered in ink. The bright rays burned my eyes, so I slipped on my sunglasses while throwing my purse over my shoulder and made my way towards Bad Omen's bus, hearing a round of laughter emanating from the back of it.

As soon as I walked up, the conversations continued for all but one. Noah, who was talking to someone I hadn't recognised, turned his attention to me and even through his own sunglasses, I felt the burning gaze from him as he took in every inch of my body. I shrank into myself as others started staring at me but Noah's was the most intense, and I ran my sweaty palms along my thighs.

"What?" I asked.

"Nice shirt," Folio smirked. "We haven't seen that design in a while. Almost forgot it was a Bad Omens design."

I fiddled with the bottom of it and shrugged. "If we can move on from my outfit choice, that'd be great."

The voices in my mind were screaming at me to run back to my bus to change and my feet turned when Noah's voice stopped me.

"You look good."

Three words.

Those three words ignited the blaze across my skin and all I could do was nod because I was so nervous to say something, afraid I would make a fool of myself. Noah also looked good. No scratch that, he looked fucking beautiful with his hair flowing freely across his shoulders and the white shirt he wore hugged his chest and arms in all the right places. The bottom half of his tattoos were on display and I couldn't help myself as I stared at them, something I didn't realize Noah was doing the same to me.

"Hey, I'm Matt," the man who was talking with Noah smiled.

"Y/N," I gave him a small wave.

"So," Chase spoke. "There's this really awesome zoo just around the block. Figured it be cool to check out?"

We all nodded in agreement and began walking in our large group; three of Hollow Souls, four Bad Omens, and two of their crew members. Matt, their manager, and Bryan, their photographer who had a camera slung around his neck. I walked in steps with Chase on one side of me and Nick on the other. Once again, Nick was looking down at the tattoo on my leg.

"You love to analyze the designs, huh?" I joked.

He shrugged. "I can't help it. Does the design on your leg have a meaning?"

It was a large tattoo of several Greek Gods sitting on top of Mount Olympus; Athena, Artemis, Ares, and Posiedon. My favorites.

"Uh, I'm a huge Greek Mythology nerd and these are some of my favorite Gods," I gave a sheepish smile.

Malcolm turned to face us as he began walking backwards. "Don't get her started on Zeus."

I pointed a finger at him. "Everyone thinks he's the most all mighty God when in fact, he was a douche! One of the worst Gods. Makes me so angry everyone puts him on a high pedestal."

Chase chuckled. "Way to go, Malcolm."

Noah walked ahead of me a few feet and as I continued to talk with Nick, I could see out of the corner of my eye when he would turn to face me; almost making sure I was still here. Soon the entrance to the zoo stood in front of us and as I pulled out my wallet to pay, I realized it was missing.

"What the fuck?" I murmured while riffling through my purse.

"Something wrong?"

Gazing up through my sunglasses, I saw Noah looking at me with concern. He pocketed his glasses so I could see the browns of his eyes sparkle in the sunlight.

"No. Well yea," I sighed letting my purse fall to my side. "I must have left my wallet on the bus. You guys ahead. I'll see you back at the venue."

It all happened so fast; Noah pulling out his own wallet, asking for two tickets, and handing the person behind the counter the correct amount of change.

"Noah," I scolded. "You didn't have to do that!"

"Come on. They're waiting for us," Noah said with an extended arm in front of me.

The rest of the group hung back just inside the entrance as they watched us with their own wondering eyes.

I didn't move however, only kept a stern gaze on Noah through my glasses. "I had no problem going back to the bus."

He scoffed while dropping his arm. "Right, to sit with Trey while the rest of us have fun? How is that fair?"

I pursed my lips, unsure how to respond, so instead with a long sigh, I walked past him towards Chase who had a large smirk on his face.

"What?" I asked, slightly irritated.

He motioned to Noah behind me. "He was checking out your ass."

I never whirled around so damn fast before in my life and one of my braids slapped me in the face as I looked at Noah, who in fact was starting intently at me. When our gazes locked, he quickly averted his over to Bryan.

For the next while, I walked with Chase as we stopped every few minutes to check out the animals at the zoo. Halfway through our visit, I stopped to grab a pretzel with cheese thanks to Chase who paid. When we then stopped in front of a large sign showcasing the map, I gasped excitedly while pointing to it.

"They have wolves!" I turned on my heels towards everyone.

"So dogs?" Folio teased with a smirk.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "How dare you! They're not just dogs. Well, I guess they are since they descend from wolves. But-." My ramblings fell off my lips when I saw Noah staring at me.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" I wiped at my face, afraid there was dried cheese on it.

"No," Noah's voice was low. "I just like how you look when you're so passionate about something. It's cute."

Turning my face away from him so he couldn't see the way I blushed, I nibbled on my bottom lip. "We don't have to go see them."

"To the dogs-I mean wolves!" Folio exclaimed with a hand up in the air.

I all but ran to the encloser that was only a few feet away from where we were and as we approached the high chain-link fence, I bent low so I could peer through hoping to see them. With what I knew about wolves I wouldn't catch a glimpse because of the heat today. It was almost like this every time I tried to see wolves at any zoo.

Everyone stood back, a quiet hum of their conversations background noise, until with a frown I rose to my feet not realizing Noah was standing behind me. I felt his warm body heat envelope around me and I peered over my shoulder to him.

"I could stay here for hours just waiting," I admitted with a smile.

"We can stay," Noah suggested.

"No," I shook my head while turning to face him. "We can go. I don't want to make the others hang around for nothing."

His long lashes brushed across his cheek as he blinked slowly, eyes never once leaving my face. My heart was beating so fast at how close we were and I wanted to take a step back, I really did, but there was this invisible force that kept us tied together. It pulled my hand away from my purse strap to brush some hair out of his face but before the action took place, Malcolm's loud voice hollered over to us, breaking the trance we were in.

"If you two are done staring at each other, Jolly wants to go see the tigers!"

Retreating away from Noah, I scurried over towards the group of the guys as we made our way over to the next large encloser, Noah trailing slowly behind. While Jolly interacted with the tigers, I hung off to the side lost in my own thoughts. Often I would check my phone to see if Trey texted me but nothing. I was gone for hours already, wouldn't he have noticed we were gone?

Maybe he was still asleep?

I tried to think of scenarios of why he wouldn't text or call instead of thinking of how close Noah and I got back at the wolves. It was wrong of me to think of another man like that. It was also wrong for me to keep stealing glances his way all day or wondering what his skin on mine would feel like.

Almost in a trance of my own thoughts, I followed the group when we reached the petting zoo area of the zoo where you could feed deers.

"Oh, sick!" Nick exclaimed.

I, on the other hand, did not think so.

"Do you want too?" Noah asked me.

"I'll watch. You can't trust these guys, they'll try to eat your shirt." I said.

I watched him bend to his knees as a smaller deer came up to him, licking up the food from his open hand. Noah smiled brightly as the deer nibbled the cracker from between his fingers and I couldn't stop my smile as it pulled at my lips. It was one of those smiles where the skin next to your eyes crinkle and cheeks hurt from how hard your smiling.

His smile could make you forget all the bad in your life. It brought so much light to the darkness that filled my soul of the last few months. My stomach burned with something unknown and it scared me that one person could cause this intense feeling; who I wasn't even dating. Trey never once made me feel this way or even tried too. All Noah had to do was smile at me and I was on my knees in a puddle mess of desire.

"Are you going to keep staring at me or help?" He smirked up at me.

Embarrassed at getting caught, I reluctantly bent down next to him and took a cracker he extended towards me. "I swear if this little shit bites my finger, I'm going to kick your ass."

Noah bumped his shoulder with mine. "It's a deal."

"Okay, I'll admit this is kind of cool," I mused while scratching a deer on its nose.

When he didn't say anything, I turned my head slightly towards Noah but sucked in a breath when I realized how close we were. His warm breath fanned over my lips as his eyes tracked every movement of my tongue made as I licked my suddenly dry lips. We were so close I was afraid that if I leaned forward slightly, our lips would brush across each other. I could smell the lemonade he drank earlier as the scent tickled my nostrils.

Noah swallowed thickly, and a noise came out of the back of his throat as he went to say something but was cut off by someone's screams. For the second time that afternoon, we were broken out of our trance like state to see Nick and Malcolm running away from a group of deers that were chasing them.

"Uh," my voice stammered. "I should probably go help him."

Quickly rising to my feet, I left Noah behind to go save my idiot friend from a couple of deers that just wanted something to eat.

NOAH

A yawn fell past my lips as I stretched out my long limbs before leaning up against the cool metal of our tour bus, the cool night air wrapping around the small group of us. We all returned from the zoo a little while ago and while Bryan and Matt went to the crew bus and Malcom and Chase went back to theirs, I was standing with Folio and Y/N, as she pulled out some cash that she grabbed from her bus.

"Please take the money, Noah. I feel terrible that you spent your money on me," she extended the two twenty-dollar bills towards me while she clutched the small wolf stuffed animal underneath her arm.

Something I surprised her with on the way out of the zoo.

Her eyes sparkled as she eyed the gift cart when we walked past it. "Would it be stupid for a grown woman to want a stuffed animal?"

She asked to Malcolm, who merely shrugged in response. So while she wasn't looking, I bought a wolf one for her.

I didn't miss the way her lips parted in surprise when I gave it to her. Or the way she let out a long shaky breath before muttering to herself.

"He doesn't even buy me anything."

She didn't have to say his name; I knew who she was talking about.

"I'm not taking your money," I shook my head.

Y/N groaned and tried to give the money to Folio who raised his hands as if the money was cursed. "I'm not taking it either, Y/N. When Noah wants something, there's no changing his mind. He wanted to pay for you today, accept it."

"Fine," she stuffed the money into her pocket. "But I owe you back with something, Noah."

Folio was fast to speak before I could even argue. "Why don't you come hang out on the bus with us for a bit?"

Y/N's body went rigid, eyes glancing over to her bus so fast I almost missed it.

"It'll be fun. Even for a bit," Folio smiled before walking up the stairs of the bus, leaving her and I alone.

Alone.

Just the two of us.

For the first time all day.

I rubbed the back of my neck, suddenly very nervous. With the others around, I could act cool around her but now under her bright eyes, my knee buckled.

"It might be fun if you hang out with me-us," I quickly corrected myself hoping she didn't notice. "We could play Mario cart?"

I stared down sheepishly at my feet, trying to find the courage to ask a girl to hang out with me. Not that fucking hard so why did my voice waver every time I tried to talk to her.

"We could play monopoly but that wouldn’t end well. Jolly thinks he’s the bomb at games and we spend most of the time kicking his ass.”

Another quick glance to her bus as she shifted on her feet something I realized she was doing because she was nervous Trey would come out any moment. According to Chase, Trey didn't call or text her all day to see where she was or at least check in on her.

"Hey," my fingers brushed along the inside of her wrist, getting her to finally look at me instead of fear to her bus. The spark that shocked through us nearly had me rear my hand back from the intensity. "You don't have to go back, you know."

Her brows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

My heart pounded as I forced the words out of my mouth before I second guessed myself. "Stay till morning? Knowing Trey, he's probably going to be nursing a hangover in the morning so he won't even notice you're not there."

"Where would I sleep?" Her voice was hushed, barley above a whisper.

With me.

"We have extra bunks," I said.

She blinked for a long moment, letting my words process in her brain. She was highly debating my offer but in the end; she shook her head.

"It's been a long day and I should head back. I'm sure Trey is wondering where I am."

The disappointment was evident on my face and I had to bit my tongue not to lash out with a comment about how much Trey did in fact not care.

"Sure," I nodded. "Let me walk you back to your bus then?"

Clutching the wolf stuffed animal closer to her chest, she nodded with a smile playing at her lips. It wasn't a long walk so my mind was running rampant with something to say to keep the last little of this perfect day alive.

"I don't think I mentioned how much I like you in my shirt."

Shit, I didn't mean that.

"Our shirt. The band's shirt," I quickly recovered when I noticed the playful gleam in her eyes.

We came to a stop in front of the door of her bus, the lights off inside which meant that either no one was in there or they were asleep.

Her gaze darted to the windows back to me. "I had a really fun day today, Noah. Thank you."

My fingers itched with the need to brush a strand of hair that came loose from her braid but I resisted.

"Anytime, angel."

Fuck.

She raised a brow at me, a reddish tint creeping from her cheeks to the tops of her ears. "Oh, angel, huh?"

"Sorry, it kind of slipped out," I rubbed my chin nervously. "If you don't like it, I can-."

"No, I like it!" She rushed out. "A lot, actually."

That was an ego boost that I desperately needed. So, with a wink, I began walking backwards to my bus calling out in the dark night air. "Good because it stays, angel!"

#noah sebastian #noah sebastian and reader #noah sebastian x reader #noah sebastian reader insert #noah sebastian smut #enemies to lovers #right person wrong time #starcrossed lovers

[zzoguri]

[part two] of boundaries and secret glances (i'm lucky to be loved by you) ➵ kim sunwoo

idol!kim sunwoo x ex-idol!reader

as a well-respected independent producer in the industry, you get requests from different companies for collaborations. when you accept to work on chanhee and sunwoo's unit track for their upcoming album, you are left to your own devices as you work closely with sunwoo. who is to say what can happen over the days?

genre/warnings ➵ strangers to friends to lovers (though sunwoo has always had a crush on you since your debut), music and lyrics au, fluff, angst with happy ending, afab reader (they/them pronouns), drinking, kpop mistreatment, mental and physical abuse done by companies, close proximity, sunwoo is a FLIRT!!! and also obsessed with you, LOONA IS FREE HERE!!!, iz*one sadly does not exist </3, boundaries are definitely crossed in the sense that you should not be flirting this much with a co-worker turned friend, slight suggestive content at the end

word count ➵ 14.6k words (30.3k words in total)

parts ➵ [1] [2]

taglist ➵ @deoboyznet @kflixnet

a/n ➵ thank you for taking time to read the second part! please note that idols shown or talked about in this fic are not meant to reflect my real thoughts on them. i love all the idols here in this fic. i would really appreciate it if you could take the time to like and reblog this.

want to be part of my taglist? send me an ask! masterlist

It has been a week since your fight with Sunwoo. Soeun chose to defer her employment with IST for another two weeks until she can get her hands on someone to take her job under you. To be clear, you did not care about how Mr. Yoon attempted to screw you over. In fact, you were used to it and trained yourself to not think too much about it.

What bothered you about everything was how Sunwoo seemed to turn his back on you so quickly. Despite all the late nights and moments spent in close proximity, the friendship proved itself to be weak in the face of adversity. You guess Sunwoo needed more from you to truly think of you as a friend.

Now, you were seated in Sunwoo’s favorite Japanese restaurant which had turned into your favorite as well. You were only there for the sushi to patch the wounds that he inflicted on you; food cures everything. Yet, when Hikaru offered a bottle of sake for free, you could not deny her request.

A bottle of sake turned into two and a half, and you were officially drunk. You realize that sushi is not the most filling food to eat before you drink. As you stayed seated and slouched on your table around 1 AM, you were left with your thoughts as Hikaru stayed with you.

“Hikaru, I don’t know what happened,” You slur which has Hikaru letting out a hum.

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“I… I don’t know what happened between me and Sunwoo,” You say as you finally sit up straight.

“Something happened between you two?”

You hiccup and take a moment to make sure you do not vomit. Before you could respond, you heard the bells ring. Once the mystery person made their way to you, you showed a lazy smile.

“Sunwoo!” The person in question sighs as he scratches his head.

“Thank you, Hikaru, for calling me. I’ll take care of them from here.”

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t know something happened between you two.” As Sunwoo walks to you, you raise your arms.

“Carry me you asshole!” Despite the sting of your words, the way you exclaimed it was merrily. Sunwoo sighs, faces away from you, and crouches down.

“Get on my back.” You gladly accept his offer and wrap your arms around his shoulders, jumping on his back. The moment he stands up, you stumble but he holds on you tightly.

“Again, I’m sorry about this Hikaru. Do I have to pay for anything? Please send the receipt to the dorm if necessary,” Sunwoo tells Hikaru, making her shake her head.

“No, it’s okay. Just take care of Y/N. Do you need help?”

“I’ll be fine. Thank you!” With that, Sunwoo exits with you on his back.

As he was walking back to your place with you on his back, you were resting your cheek on the back of his head. In fact, you were mumbling something that he could not quite catch.

“Hmm? Y/N, did you say something?”

“Why…” The rest of your words turned into incoherent nonsense that Sunwoo was not sure if he should ask you to say again considering your state.

“Y/N, I couldn’t hear you.”

“Why do you not like me?”

That has Sunwoo stopped in his tracks. As he continued to carry you on his back, he looked at the path in front of him as you continued to mumble.

“Sunwoo,” You hiccup. “What happened to us? Do you not like me?”

Sunwoo’s heart ached at your words. He did not know how to reassure you that he enjoys everything about you, especially in your current state. In fact, it would be no use. With that, he continued to walk with you on his back.

The journey back to your place gave you enough time to rest and sober up somehow. As you gained a clearer conscience, you realized how having Sunwoo carry you on his back was terrible for you. There was no way you could live this down. Yet, you allow yourself to snuggle into him as you take in his smell.

Sunwoo smells of jasmine and rose. The scent of berry lingers on his hair along with the smell of laundry that clings onto his clothes. As you breathe him in, you realize how comforting his presence is in your life.

Once you two finally reached your place, he attempts to wake you up as he thinks you were asleep

“Hey, we’re here.”

As you got off his back, you look away and attempt to make your way to the door. Sunwoo grabs your hand before you could do so and spins you to face him. What he did not expect was to see tears falling down your face.

“Y/N, I’m–”

“Sunwoo, what did I do wrong? Did you not think of me as a friend?”

“What? No, I–” You attempt to shrug his hand off your wrist but fail.

“Let me go,” You say as more tears continue to fall down.

“No, I won’t.”

“Sunwoo, let me go.”

Greeted with no response as his grip remains firm, you attempt to shrug it off once more. Without any success, you start to sob even harder.

“Please, let me go!” Your sobs were even louder, your body shaking as your throat started to strain.

“Y/N, I can’t. I care about you.”

“No, you don’t! If you did, you would have never asked me to take that offer!” You argue back as you look at him straight into his eyes.

“Y/N–”

“Sunwoo, please! The longer you hold onto me, the more confused I get about our relationship. Like, what are we? Friends? Enemies? Strangers who want to flirt? What are we?! It’s so hard to understand you after everything!”

With that, Sunwoo pulls you into his chest and hugs you. As you continue to sob and hit your hands on his chest, he continues to hold you despite everything.

You wish he never bothered to be friends with you. Why could you two not remain colleagues? Why did Sunwoo have to reach out to you and leave you with a broken heart?

It took you a few minutes until your wailing started to calm down. As you start to get exhausted from crying, your arms began to grow tired while your throat started to ache. At that moment, you do not do anything as Sunwoo continues to hold you in his arms.

The moment he lets go of you, he caresses your face so that you could look straight into his eyes. Your bloodshot eyes along with tear-stained cheeks became a painful sight he could not bear to look at, especially knowing he was the cause of this. Despite everything, you saw how his eyes continued to hold the entire universe.

“Y/N, I need to say this to you right now because I’m scared you’ll go back to sleep thinking all of this.”

“I–”

“No, Y/N. Hear me out just this once, please?” Before you could say anything, he went on.

“Y/N, I have always thought of you as a friend. In fact, I regarded you as the one person I wanted to continue spending time with. Maybe it’s because our friendship is so fresh, but I loved every moment I got to have with you.” Sunwoo draws patterns on your cheek with his thumb. “Whether it would be in the studio as we worked in comfortable silence or in my favorite Japanese restaurant that turned into your favorite as well, every single moment is precious because it had you in it.”

“Sure, I was ecstatic to know that I would be spending time with my celebrity crush, but I learned more about you the more we continued to work together. Did you know that I fall asleep to the thought of spending more time–no, that I fall asleep to the thought of you? Everywhere I go at any moment, I always think about you; I wonder how you are today; I hope you got to eat well today; I wonder what other things you can reveal that can keep me absolutely hooked on you.”

“Y/N, I don’t think you realize just how precious you are in everyone’s lives. If you think I never saw you as a friend, well I need to tell you otherwise. I appreciate everything about you—your place in my life has become a comforting presence that I cannot imagine without. In the short period of time we got to know each other, I learned more about you outside of the idol persona I was infatuated with then.”

As your drunken brain tries to process, your mouth parts open.

“I… I don’t get it, Sunwoo. What are you trying to say?”

With that, Sunwoo lets out a sigh as he closes his eyes and loosens his hold on your face. As you continue to stare at him, he has no idea what to say. It was silent for a moment. 

“Chanhee and I talked to Jihoon. We’re trying to negotiate again with our CEO.” You were left in shock.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen but I’m trying to fix it, okay? Hyung just informed Soeun just today, and we’re trying. I don’t want to discuss the details now because I want you to be in a sober state to fully discuss it with you. But I just want you to know I’m doing everything possible to fix this. You do not deserve to be fucked over again—you deserve better,” Sunwoo continues.

The guy who betrayed you was doing all of this for you? It felt surreal that Sunwoo would go to these lengths to right this situation. Maybe it is because you thought that your relationship with him was built on nothing but shameless flirting, but he continues to prove you wrong—you’re so glad he does.

Before you could say anything, Sunwoo says, “I’ll see you when you’re sober, okay?” With that, he engulfs you in a hug.

And he whispers, “Y/N, I miss you. Just let me know when you’re ready to talk.”

With that, Sunwoo nuzzles his face into the top of your head. And before you know it, he gives you a small kiss on the crown of your forehead. Your eyes were closed as his lips linger. The warmth of his lips felt like a blanket you would wrap yourself with when the storm came. You could only wish it could remain like this.

He finally lets go of you and lets his hand hover over your cheek. As you looked up to the guy who had singlehandedly given you warmth and heartache over the weeks, you still wish nothing but happiness for him. It’s not that you lacked respect for yourself for what he did—it’s that Sunwoo still deserves all that is good in the world no matter what you may feel.

Sunwoo drops his hand back to his side and gives a small smile before he decides to walk away. As you stay rooted in place, you watch his figure become smaller as he continues to walk. But before you decide to go back into your house, Sunwoo looks back at you.

“I hope you find it in your heart to forgive me. But I would never hold it against you if you couldn’t.”

It’s been a few days since your last encounter with Sunwoo. Currently, you were in your office going through your emails (which surprised Soeun—even yourself). As you were considering denying all of the requests from these different companies, Soeun continued to give you a rundown of what Jihoon told her regarding the negotiation process.

“Jihoon says that since the anticipated comeback day is coming closer, the situation works in our favor. He mentioned that they haven’t found the right producer to work on Chanhee and Sunwoo’s track. That means that with the tight schedule, their company may reconsider what you produced as the final track.”

You only let out a hum as you continue to scroll through countless emails.

“Hey, look at me,” She says as she snaps her fingers to grab your attention.

As your eyes rip away from the screen, you look at Soeun who had a frown on her face. Clearly, she knew something was up considering your behavior that night with Sunwoo.

“Y/N, I know you are an independent artist but you still need to be careful about what you do. You are a well-respected artist in the industry and we cannot do anything to risk that! Y/N, you are free to go drink out and whatnot but you can’t just drink in public alone! Imagine if people saw you, let alone see you get picked up by Sunwoo! Remember how Keeho and Intak were caught in the club? Or even Taehyun?”

You understood where Soeun was coming from because she is right. It was completely stupid on your end. It was bad enough that you had to sustain yourself as an independent artist. It would be even worse if the public commented on your irrational public drinking behavior.

“I know, I know. I’m sorry.”

“I sure hope you know!” Her voice raises which you flinch at. Soeun notices the way you react and closes her eyes in an attempt to calm herself down.

“I’m… sorry for the way I’m reacting. Y/N, I know I’m going to work in IST soon enough, but I’m still your manager and friend. I’m trying to look out for you,” She says with her eyes open as she takes a seat in front of you.

“And in my attempt to look out for you, I want you to feel comfortable enough to tell me what’s on your mind.”

As she says those words, you lean your head back and look up at the ceiling. No matter how long you and Soeun have been together, you always found it hard to be vulnerable. It is not her fault but yours.

“Soeun, I don’t know. I’m just so lost in what I’m feeling and I–it’s all so confusing, you know? Like–oh my god, why is it so hard to vocalize my thoughts?” You let out a small laugh as you pick on your nails.

“It’s okay, take your time. You always know I’m here to listen, just say whatever comes to mind.”

So you talked, and it went on for hours. The best thing about talking to Soeun is that you always felt understood by her from how she responds to how she reacts. There really is no friend like Soeun—one who is willing to go to all lengths for your happiness and safety.

“Y/N, would you ever find it within yourself to forgive him? I mean, I don’t think I would,” She says, which makes you chuckle.

“The weirdest thing is that I would have never forgiven anyone for that. I mean, I opened up to Sunwoo about my own trauma only for him to completely disregard it.”

And it is true. Sunwoo should not deserve your forgiveness—just like how JYP Entertainment, Stone Entertainment, and IST Entertainment do not deserve it as well. To be treated as a tool that people can use at their own will to only benefit themselves is something no one should ever experience. You decided that you do deserve to be respected. So why do you find it in your heart to want to forgive him?

“I just find it crazy that I cannot bring myself to forgive these entertainment companies but for Sunwoo, I would. Call me infatuated or too up into my delusions, but all the days I’ve spent with him have only shown me a guy with a heart of gold and pure intentions to not only protect but to love immensely. Like, that’s just the type of guy he is! And this comes from someone who is always cynical about men.”

Soeun laughs, caresses your hand, and says, “No, you’re right. I’ve known you for how long and I have never seen you actually consider forgiving a man just like that.”

As you looked down at your intertwined hands, you could only sigh.

“Soeun, am I wrong for wanting to forgive him?” You ask as you look up to her.

With that, silence enters the room. As you wait for Soeun’s answer, anxiety starts to pool in your stomach. You did not want to come off as easy for wanting to forgive the guy who brought joy and sorrow within the past weeks.

“Y/N, wanting to forgive shows just how strong you are. Many people may disagree and say that you’re in the wrong for wanting to forgive him, but I believe that it just shows more of the Y/N I know. You’ve been wronged by so many people but I never see you use that as an excuse to treat people shitty, and that’s what I love about you. That’s why I always say you need to be kinder to yourself and give yourself more credit for all that you do.”

You felt yourself pout at what Soeun said. “Soeun, you’re going to make me sad!” She only laughs.

“I’m right though! I think even your fans would think the same, and I’m sure Sunwoo does.”

You press your tongue against the inside of your cheek as you think about her words. Instead of saying anything, you let go of Soeun’s hand and grab your phone. Once you typed out your message, you gave it one more read and sent it. 

It is 2:36 PM. You were seated in one of your favorite cafes that you would frequent back when you were still in 1CON. As you take a sip from your cup of earl grey tea, you scroll aimlessly through your Instagram.

“Y/N-ah!” You look up to see Jiwoo and Heejin whose smiles lit up the whole room.

Whenever you feel lost, you always find yourself going to these two. They were the ones you relied on the most back in your Produce 101 and 1CON days. Maybe it was due to being in the same unit groups during the competition or being roommates when you were still in 1CON that made you three grow closer. Nonetheless, you were happy that your friendship with them continues to last past disbandment.

“Heejin and Jiwoo! Thank you for meeting with me,” You say as you stand up and give the two a hug.

“Heejin-ah, I’ll get us our drinks. You stay with Y/N,” Jiwoo says as she makes her way to the cashier.

“Y/N, I have a feeling that I know why you called us,” Heejin says with a small smile as you two take a seat.

“Yeah, shocker,” You joke in hopes to lighten up the mood.

“Don’t worry about it. I get it, men truly are something.”

“They really are! I can’t believe I’m letting a man do this to me.”

Before Heejin can respond, Jiwoo comes to you two with some drinks and pastries.

“Here you go, Heejin! Let me just settle down and you can spill on Sunwoo,” She says excitedly which makes you chuckle.

With that, you explain to the two your whole situation with Sunwoo from the start to current. As you talked about the close proximity and all the other actions that transpired between you two, you could see Heejin and Jiwoo squeal.

“Yah! I never knew that all of this happened between you two! You downplay it or leave out so many details in your messages,” Jiwoo scolds you.

“I know, my bad. It’s just, it still feels weird to think that this all happened. But going back, my dilemma still remains. I don’t know what to feel about Sunwoo.”

Heejin scoffs and says, “Do you really not know what to feel about him or are you seeking some kind of external validation?”

“Hey! I mean, I’m both?” You shyly admit.

At first, Heejin and Jiwoo look at each other. A part of you had a feeling that they came prepared with whatever they wanted to say beforehand. With that, they look at you and give you a piece of their minds.

“Y/N, you should just talk to him,” Jiwoo starts off.

“I think it’s all hard to say whether you should forgive him or not if you don’t actually hear him out, you know?” Heejin takes a sip from her cold brew. “And I know that you’re the type of person who wants to come to these situations with a clear understanding of what to do, but it’s not fair for him. In no way am I trying to defend this guy’s actions because it is still pretty shitty and I would scold him. However, I think that your decision to forgive him or not will only be clearer if you talk to him.”

“I agree. If you come in there with a clear and strict decision of forgiving him or not means you don’t want to hear what he has to say. Plus, I do think it’s good on his end that he’s trying to make up for his behavior by trying to negotiate with his own agency. Everyone knows how hard it is for idols to stand up against their own companies—we would know out of all people would know,” Jiwoo points out.

Both of them made sense in what they were saying. If anything, you were starting to understand how important it is to have a talk with Sunwoo.

“So, I’m not wrong for wanting to forgive him?” You ask as you seek validation.

Jiwoo sighs. “You’re not wrong for wanting to hear him out. To hear out the person who betrayed you in hopes to understand and possibly forgive them speaks so much of your character, Y/N.”

“You know, you really are too good for this world. In other instances, I would have told you to ghost this guy and go on with your life.” You laugh at Heejin’s words. “Yet, the way you talk about Sunwoo and all the good things he’s done for you makes me hope that it all goes out well. You’re the one person I trust when it comes to forgiveness—you know that you deserve respect. Of course, you still need to work on acknowledging your achievements,” Heejin continues making you gasp.

“Hey! Soeun won’t get off my back on that, you know?”

“Yeah because it’s true and something you need to focus on,” Jiwoo argues and smacks your arm.

“You work too much!” Heejin exclaims.

“Heejin, I have to work or I’m going to be broke. Being an independent artist is hard,” You point out.

“We get it. I mean, you’re talking to us out of all people!” 

Your group bursts into giggles. It is crazy to think that you three had to undergo mistreatment that scarred your lives. In no way was it right but it is something you three trauma bond over.

“So, what are you going to do?” Jiwoo finally asks.

Instead of answering, you grab your phone and message the man who you needed to hear from.

Sunwoo was not focused during his dance practice. If anything, he has been unfocused since you first stormed out of the building that one day. Of course, he tried to do anything that would help him get his mind on track. However, with the comeback date approaching and no clear future for his and Chanhee’s track, he has been stressed out. It did not help that he missed your presence the most.

“Yo, Sunwoo? You good?” Kevin snaps Sunwoo out of his trance.

“Huh? Oh yeah, sorry.”

Everyone in the group knew that Sunwoo was not his usual self. With the stress of the comeback and his argument with you, many of the members noticed how scatterbrained he has been. Although Chanhee and Changmin made an attempt to talk to him about it, he always shut them down. This is why when Sunwoo approached Chanhee with the idea of talking to Jihoon, Chanhee was shocked about his best friend talking about you after so long.

Jihoon says that he is getting close to sealing the deal with Mr. Yoon. However, he requested to have a meeting with Sunwoo and Chanhee to hear the request from them. With the meeting happening in three days, Sunwoo found himself ridden with anxiety.

There are so many ways in which the meeting could play out; Mr. Yoon easily agrees with their negotiation and has Y/N’s work as the final track; he denies the request and pushes back the unit song for the next comeback instead; or, Sunwoo could lose his job. Everything about this situation stressed him out, but he knew that it was something that needed to be done.

“Okay everyone, let’s stay focused. We have so many segments to fix on,” Sangyeon calls everyone’s attention.

“Sangyeon’s right. Sunwoo, we really need your help here,” Changmin hated to say that to his best friend knowing fully well of the situation, but the time constraints were putting pressure on everyone.

“I know, I know. I’m sorry everyone,” Sunwoo apologizes as he rubs his eyes in frustration.

“Hey, let’s cut some slack for Sunwoo. He’s going through a lot,” Eric attempts to defend his best friend.

“Yeah, but if we don’t show Jihoon hyung anything good, we’ll be scolded,” Hyunjae explains.

“But you guys know that Sunwoo hasn’t been sleeping well since his fight with Y/N,” Chanhee chimes in.

“I know that, but remember when we delivered a bad performance to Sunghoon?” Juyeon shares which made the chatter stop.

The mention of their old manager brings the group into silence. Everyone’s experiences were different, but all would agree Sunghoon has single-handedly traumatized the members. Through insults, invasion of privacy, and gaslighting, many members of the group felt unsafe with him.

“Hey, don’t think about him. We’re safe now, okay?” Sangyeon says before anyone could continue spiraling down into memory lane.

“I’m sure Jihoon hyung will understand, but we still need to present something that would fulfill the standards of the company,” He continues as he stretches his shoulder.

Before anyone could say anything, the door of the practice room opens and reveals Jihoon and Jongseob, their choreography teacher.

“Speak of the devil! We were just talking about you, hyung,” Kevin exclaims with a smile on his face.

“Oh, talking about me? I hope you’re not planning to find a way to sneak out of the dorm again,” Jihoon jokes.

“To be fair, Hyunjae and Younghoon dragged us with them!” Jacob tries to defend him and Kevin while Jihoon only laughs.

“How’s the practice? I thought it would be good to leave you guys to work by yourselves,” Jongseob asks the group.

No one answers.

“I’m assuming that you’re still struggling.”

“Hyung, I think we’re getting stressed by the lack of time and progress,” Changmin pouts.

“And that’s why I’m here to help! Let’s try to refine up to the 2nd verse and work on the rest tomorrow, okay?” Jongseob asks which has the group scream out in happiness.

“Can I speak to Sunwoo first?” Jihoon asks.

Sunwoo only nods and walks out of the practice room with Jihoon. He continues to follow Jihoon until they reach an empty recording studio. Once the two entered, they made their way to the black couch that stood at the end of the room and sat down.

The thing is that Sunwoo is nervous. The name of Sunghoon being mentioned brought him memories he wished he could forget. So to be seated alone with Jihoon only rid him of anxiety.

Sunwoo did not have it in him to share what he went through with anyone. So when Y/N asked him back then what his experience is like with The Boyz, he purposely omitted it. It is not that he did not trust Y/N but more that it was hard for him to ever have to vocalize his own experiences with Sunghoon that almost pushed him to leave the group.

“Hey, Sunwoo? Are you okay?” Jihoon snaps Sunwoo out of his trance.

“What? I’m sorry. I’m okay, hyung,” Sunwoo says with a quick smile as a cover-up.

Jihoon only frowns and says, “Sunwoo-ah, I know you well enough to see that you’re upset about something. It’s fine if you don’t want to talk about it but you don’t need to lie to me.”

Sunwoo shakes his head and lets out a sigh.

“I’m sorry, hyung. It’s just that I’ve been so lost with… everything, really,” Sunwoo attempts to joke as he lets out a chuckle.

“No, I get it. With what you’re going through with Y/N, the comeback date coming soon, and your upcoming meeting with Mr. Yoon, I would be surprised if you weren’t stressed.”

“Yeah but… I’m trying to deal with it.”

“And you know that you don’t have to deal with it alone, right?” Jihoon is only met with silence.

“Sunwoo, you are a very talented guy whose charisma manages to bring up everyone’s mood. You somehow–no wait, you are the life of the party for many and the shoulder to cry on for others. So you should know that whenever the burden is too hard to carry, you have people you can rely on—me, your members, Y/N even.”

Sunwoo only sighs as he plays with his hands. “I know, you’re right. I think it’s just weird to still be open about anything.”

“Hey, I understand. I mean, I get that it would be weird to be open with your manager but I always want you to know that I am not like Sunghoon,” Jihoon tries to make a point by holding onto Sunwoo’s hands.

“I’m sorry to bring his name up but I know the damage he’s inflicted upon you guys mentally and physically. Every day, I still see how his memory continues to live with you guys from the way you function during comeback season to the way you treat yourselves. So when I look at you now, I feel the need to reiterate it.”

Sunwoo cannot help but smile at Jihoon. One of the things that Sunwoo appreciates about Jihoon is that he has always been attentive to the needs of the group. From food cravings to fatigue levels, Jihoon always found ways to make sure every member was heard and understood.

“Thank you, Jihoon hyung. It means a lot. You do so much for us and I hope you know how much we appreciate you,” Sunwoo says, which earns a smile from Jihoon.

“I know that even if you guys tend to mess around or sneak out of the dorm every once in a while.” The two burst into laughter.

“Well, I just wanted you to know that. Now, the reason I called you here is to talk to you about more details about what to expect from the meeting.” Sunwoo nods. “Thankfully, Soeun and I discussed thoroughly the details and what might help with the negotiation pushing through. Thankfully, I will be in the meeting to help so you don’t have to worry too much. I do think you and Chanhee need to prepare a good and rational explanation as to why they should accept Y/N’s work as the final track and I can deal with all the technical details such as dates and whatnot. I’ll send you a proper message later tonight.”

Sunwoo nods firmly and shows Jihoon a smile. Before he could say anything, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. As he takes it out to see the notification, he is surprised to see a message from you. As he gasps, Jihoon could only guess what has Sunwoo in such a reaction.

“I am guessing that you have somewhere to be.” Sunwoo shoots Jihoon a smile and hugs him briefly.

“Thank you, hyung! I’ll see you later,” He says as he stands up and quickly makes his way to the door.

“Yah, don’t forget you need to be in the dorm by 9 PM latest!”

It is 4:21 PM. You were seated in the same cafe where you met up with Heejin and Jiwoo. You decided to get a chai latte to accompany your book. Although you tried to read the pages of Crying in H Mart, you could not keep your mind off of your upcoming meeting with Sunwoo.

You decide to grab your phone and look back at your conversation with Sunwoo.

y/n: are you free to meet?

zzoguri 🦝: of course! i can meet you around 4:30?

zzoguri 🦝: where should i meet you :]

y/n: there’s actually a cafe i frequent that’s near my place. it’s called milk and roasters

y/n: i can send you the google maps details if you need it

zzoguri 🦝: it’s okay i found it. i’ll see you :]]

As you continue to look down at the conversation that took place hours ago, you start to feel anxiety pool at the bottom of your stomach. Although you are the type of person who stands their ground and likes to hear people out, you cannot deny that you were the anxious type. Your tendency to overthink always brought you to hypothetical situations you never wanted to experience.

This is why you never noticed that Sunwoo entered the cafe as you continued to stare down at your phone.

“Hey.”

You felt yourself jump in your seat at Sunwoo’s sudden voice. As you look up at him, you notice a sheepish smile plastered on his face.

“Jesus! Sunwoo, you scared me.”

“To be fair, I wanted to see if you really were easy to scare like I’ve seen in the old 1CON vlogs,” He says as he takes a seat across from you.

“Oh god, you really watched those? I was such a baby then.”

“Of course I did! You were my number one pick—you still are.” You could only roll your eyes at Sunwoo.

“Plus, Haknyeon did mention you’re my celebrity crush,” He continues as he looks out the window.

You only giggle and say, “I can’t believe that getting me to work on your unit track was just a ploy for you to meet your celebrity crush.”

Sunwoo was about to protest but no words left his mouth. “Yeah, it really was.”

You try to hide the smile forming on your face by taking a sip of your chai latte (though you are not sure if you were blushing). Once you put your phone and book away, you look right at the boy seated across you.

“I’m ready to listen regarding the negotiation.”

Sunwoo lets out a sigh at first to prepare what he was going to say. Although he spent his time drafting a flow of what he would say on the way to you, he was scared that he would fuck this up.

“Ever since our, you know… fight, I’ve been trying to find a way to make this all right. I thought I could just apologize but I knew it wouldn’t be enough.” Sunwoo tongues the inside of his cheek. “I mean, I basically asked you to give your work as a demo despite knowing all the times your old companies didn’t credit you for your work—let alone properly pay you for it. That’s why I talked with Chanhee about negotiating again and he was open to the idea.”

“We eventually found ourselves talking to Jihoon hyung and one thing led to another. We’re trying to push for your work to be the final track for many reasons; there’s not enough time to outsource another producer who would deliver a track within the projected internal deadline; it would be impossible for me and Chanhee to squeeze in enough time to work with a new producer since we’re focused on our comeback performances; and it’s also not fair to you—above all reasons, that is the one that I find important to address.”

Sunwoo takes a deep breath. “Y/N, I’m sorry for ever asking you to do something that would only have you relive your trauma or create room for more disrespect directed towards you. When I looked back at our conversations about your time in JYP and Stone Music Entertainment, I only realized after our fight what I was asking you to do. You do not deserve to be forced to relive your trauma. So above everything, I’m sorry.”

You are silent for a moment as you process his words.

“Sunwoo, so why did you ask for me to accept the deal then?” He lets out a sigh at your question.

“I… don’t know,” He admits. “I know, that sounds so shitty but I really don’t know what was on my mind to push you into the deal. I think I wanted to believe that they wouldn’t make any significant changes to your work; I just wanted to rap to the song you produced,” He trails off.

“But also, I think a part of me was scared.”

“Scared of what?”

“I… I think I was scared of how Jihoon hyung and Mr. Yoon would react if you denied the deal. I–this isn’t about me, sorry. Just know that it was wrong on my end; I’m doing all that I can to fix this,” Sunwoo answers as he looks down at his crossed arms that rested on the table.

You do not know what came to you, but you found yourself reaching out to Sunwoo’s arm. As you rested your hand there, he looked up at you with eyes filled with guilt.

“Sunwoo, it’s okay. You can tell me—this is also about you as much as it is about me.”

At first, Sunwoo was hesitant to share with you something so traumatic and personal to him. He hates to vocalize any experience related to Sunghoon. Yet, the moment you showed your smile that filled him with warmth without fail, that is when he knew it was time to tell you.

“A part of me would think that I would have to carry the blame or the burden if you denied the deal,” Sunwoo starts off. “I felt as if I would have to be in charge to clean up the mess. I mean, I was the one who pushed for you to be the producer for the unit track. It made me think that if we didn’t get to use your work, I would need to do all the work once again. But most of all, I was scared that I would get scolded by the company.”

Sunwoo sighs. “Y/N, remember that conversation we had when we were at the convenience store? The one where you asked me what it’s like to be in The Boyz?” You only nod.

“I know I mentioned that the scolding was the worst of it all and… it’s because of what the group had to go through back then.” You found yourself slowly rubbing his arm in hopes to comfort him.

Sunwoo sucks in a breath.

“We had a manager before Jihoon; his name is Sunghoon. He was our manager back in our pre-debut to freshly debuted days. At first, Sunghoon was a great manager. I mean, he took care of us and defended us on most occasions. If anything, we trusted him so much with so many secrets.”

“But something flipped in him—or maybe he was just always a bad person and we never noticed. At first, he would manipulate us into thinking we were too fat or we lacked so much skill that it would cost our debut.” Sunwoo found himself shuddering at the memories. “At one point, I remember that he made Changmin believe that it would be impossible for him to improve in singing. Changmin took that to heart because he only had dancing. He knew that if he didn’t show any improvement, he would be kicked out of the group.”

Sunwoo closed his eyes. “I think one of the worst things I underwent is the physical and mental exhaustion he would subject me to.”

“Out of all the members, he expected me to be the perfect dancer—the one to get the choreography and perform it exquisitely within the first days of learning it.” Sunwoo shakes his head. “But for some reason, he made me believe that all the times I would slip up were the main reasons why I was holding the group back. Although the group tried to tell me that I was one of the best dancers and it was fine for me to make some mistakes, I started to believe that I was at fault if I wasn’t doing anything perfectly.”

“It started to reach a point where Sunghoon would force me to stay late in the practice rooms alone and he would force me to perform the same choreography until I got it perfectly. The other members said it was weird that only I was being subjected to that but the others had other mistreatments they were being put through; Haknyeon was put through inhumane diets; Juyeon and Changmin were forced to sing until their vocal cords would strain; Kevin and Jacob would not be allowed to talk to their family back in Canada; and so much more.”

The more Sunwoo shares his story, the more your heart would ache for him. It was not right that he had to go through such a traumatic experience in the same way that you should not have been discredited for your creative works. It is not right that so many trainees and idols are continuously subjected to mistreatment as if they are only tools for the success of these companies.

“No matter how many times Sangyeon tried to talk to Mr. Yoon, he would not believe us. And somehow, Sunghoon always found out whenever Sangyeon tried to talk. The–god, the physical abuse I had to see Sangyeon undergo was terrible. I think he had it worst out of all of us.” Sunwoo bites his lip.

You wish you knew what to say when you heard Sunwoo’s story, but his experience is something you do not think you had a place to comment on. All you could do is hold onto his arm—only caress him in a way that you wish could heal him of all wounds.

“Somehow, we managed to get our families involved. It was risky since we had no contact with them because of Sunghoon, but Hyunjae found a way. It only helped that some of us were still minors when we debuted. Mr. Yoon finally listened once our families got involved and we never saw Sunghoon again.”

“But the worst of it all is that no one knows what happened to us publicly. We weren’t allowed to talk about it outside of the group—even our families weren’t allowed.”

For a moment, silence comes to you two.

He sighs. “I don’t know what Sunghoon is doing now; many of us pressed charges against him but he quickly solved it. So while he continues to walk around, I’m here still picking up the pieces. I feel at fault for everything that doesn’t go the way we had planned out—just like how Sunghoon made me believe that any mistake I committed held back everyone.”

You do not say anything. In situations like these, you think it is best to just listen until the person speaking gives you a clear indication to talk.

As Sunwoo continues to look down at your hand that rested on his arm, he felt a sense of warmth fill him. And you least expect it when he grabs a hold of it and intertwines his fingers.

“Y/N, I want you to know that you do mean the world to me, and I’m sorry that I ever treated you like that.” His eyes are filled with guilt as he says those words. “But I feel even more sorry knowing that you started to doubt our friendship just because of my actions. So I meant every word I said that night when I brought you back home, and all others during the time we spent together,” He speaks as he draws circles with his thumb on the back of your hand.

It felt so nice to be cared for by Sunwoo—you could only imagine how it would feel to be loved by him.

“Sunwoo, I forgive you and I’m sorry you had to go through that.” You give him a small smile. “You don’t have to be sorry for ever keeping that memory to yourself; I would’ve done the same. Typically, people would just apologize or even go on with their days. You though… you went to such great lengths to fix all of this, and I’m forever thankful for you.” You take a look at your interwoven hands. “So I want to at least tell you… thank you for this, and I always want you to know I’m here for you every step of the way.”

Sunwoo cannot help but smile at your words. “You’re too good to me.”

“I think you’re talking about yourself,” You giggle.

Sunwoo was seated across from Mr. Yoon with Chanhee and Jihoon by his side. He still could not believe the day had come. He has had numerous discussions with Chanhee and Jihoon about what needs to be said. With the pressure of comeback day coming, the uncertainty of the NEWSUN track, and your overall happiness, he knew he had to do anything possible to have Mr. Yoon agree to the negotiation.

“Hello everyone. You have called this meeting to hold a negotiation regarding the NEWSUN unit song and to discuss our last encounter with Y/N,” Mr. Yoon starts off.

“Yes sir, I will have the boys speak first and I will present the technical data after,” Jihoon responds.

Chanhee sucks a breath in. “When Sunwoo and I were conceptualizing what we wanted from this track, we wanted to ensure a performance that captured our charms, capabilities, and message we wish to convey. It took months for us to truly decide on what type of song we wanted but we were always certain to have Y/N produce the final track from the start. It is our dream to work with them—let alone meet them. With that, both Sunwoo and I were happy to see the final product of the track that we believe fulfills the standards of the company, especially under the supervision of Jihoon hyung.”

“Although you wish to have Y/N’s work as a demo, both parties previously agreed to their work acting as the final track with only minimal edits if necessary. However, with them unaware of the change in the contract, we lost the perfect track to work with. With this, Chanhee and I agreed that it would be best to discuss with you on what can be done to proceed forward,” Sunwoo says.

Jihoon points his laptop screen to Mr. Yoon with the calendar showcased. “Sir, we have spent around a month working with Y/N as the producer as we were under the impression that their work would act as the final track. However, with your proposed changes of requesting a demo, it was impossible for the team to outsource enough producers willing to agree with the proposed internal deadline.

“Along with this, the group is now at the stage where they are heavily focused on refining their performance for the title track. With the time constraints, both Chanhee and Sunwoo may be unable to work with a new producer to create the track they envisioned. Lastly, it is important to point out that the company luckily got away with this as Y/N is an independent artist with not enough manpower to sue for a breach of contract. Still, it is not right that we amended the details of the contract and did not get a clear understanding of whether they were aware of the changes,” Jihoon continues.

“We ask for you to reconsider having Y/N’s work as the final track as it fulfills the vision of mine and Chanhee’s. Y/N is a well-respected artist in the industry whose tracks ensure success for the artists they work with. Through the number of sales and streams other artists have as seen here…” Jihoon shows a line graph. “... then we can hopefully predict similar results for the group as well.”

Sunwoo hesitates for a second as he gets a good look at Mr. Yoon whose facial expression never faltered. “My time working with Y/N has improved me as an artist as I got to learn from them. Not only that but I believe they are a well-respected partner that the company could keep close contact with. But above everything, Y/N does not deserve the treatment we subjected them to. If anything, it is an honor that we got to work with them.”

Sunwoo takes a second to breathe. “Both Y/N and I have grown closer during our time working, and I would hate to disrespect an artist and friend like them.”

For a moment, the CEO only looks at the three people who sat across from him. Sunwoo knew that Mr. Yoon could do anything he wanted and that they would have no absolute say in it. But for once, he was clinging onto that string of hope that maybe their company has changed and learned to listen to their artists.

“Okay.”

It took a bit for Chanhee, Sunwoo, and Jihoon to register what Mr. Yoon said. However, when he nodded, a smile showed on their faces.

“You are right, Y/N is a well-respected artist who we must keep in close contact with. With the time constraints, I cannot risk pushing back the unit track any further as the marketing materials have already been made. And Jihoon is right, I am lucky enough to have gotten away with this but it doesn’t make it right.” Mr. Yoon sucks a breath in. “So you are right, and I’m sorry for not listening to you. Jihoon, please send an email to Y/N’s manager. Hopefully, they would still allow us to use their work as the final track,” He orders Jihoon.

“Now, get back to work. You better deliver good results for this comeback.”

It is 3:23 PM. You were at home enjoying a bag of chips as you watched The Uncanny Counter on Netflix. Soeun had an emergency to attend to which is why you decided that today would be a good day to not do anything. As you were sprawled over the sofa, you watched So Moon and Do Hana interact on screen.

“Sejeong is so pretty,” You muttered to no one as you continued to snack away.

While you were invested in the show, you were surprised to hear the doorbell ring. You frowned to yourself as you got off the couch. Once you make your way to the front door, you take a look into the peephole to see Sunwoo.

“Shit!” You exclaim quietly as you look down at your clothes; a grey oversized RJ of BT21 shirt and blue checkered shorts.

You can hear Sunwoo’s snicker from the other side of the door.

“Yah, Y/N! I can hear you, let me in.”

“Sunwoo, I am not dressed up!”

“It’s okay, just let me in,” He knocks on the door.

As you get annoyed with his knocks, you give in and swing the door open. A smiley Sunwoo appears by your doorstep (though you did notice his smile getting wider when he saw what you were wearing). You frown at him and take a step to the side to let him in.

You close the door and say, “I did not expect to see you today.”

“Well, I’m here. I just had my meeting with Mr. Yoon.” You felt your lips part open as anxiety started to creep in.

“Oh my god, I thought it would take some more meetings.” For a moment, you felt yourself panic over what news Sunwoo may have brought into the household.

However, Sunwoo still had that stupid smile on his face (something you still greatly love and despise). And you are left shocked by what leaves his mouth. “I sealed the deal. Y/N, your work is now officially the final track of mine and Chanhee’s unit song!”

As soon as he shared the news, you felt yourself jump in happiness and hug Sunwoo. At first, Sunwoo was stiff as he was not expecting you to hug him so suddenly. But the moment you hugged him tighter is when he let himself melt into the hug. His arms went to wrap around your waist and lifted you off the ground slightly.

“Sunwoo, I can’t believe it! You did it!”

Although the negotiation seemed more about you, you believed it to be for Sunwoo. Ever since he told you his story in the cafe a few days ago, you were worried about him confronting his boss. You did not want him to do anything that would ultimately risk his career. And yet, here he stood before you, victorious than ever.

With your arms still wrapped around him and his with yours, you decided to lean a bit backward to look at him properly. “You managed to get the track! Now, you and Chanhee can say that you fulfilled your number one wish.”

Sunwoo chuckles as he looks directly back at you.

“Yeah, I guess so. But Y/N, that’s not my number one wish.” You let out a gasp.

“Kim Sunwoo, you’re saying that working with me is not your number one wish? After Haknyeon had to tell me that I was your celebrity crush?”

Sunwoo rolls his eyes. “How many times do I have to say that you are my celebrity crush?” You only frown at him.

“Haha, stop with the lies.” He shakes his head.

“Well, you better be happy you at least got to get that wish fulfilled—whatever your number one wish may be,” You mutter the last half bitterly which only makes him laugh.

You let go of him and make your way back to the couch in your living room. As you moved aside your bag of chips, Sunwoo took a seat beside you.

“Hey, you don’t want to celebrate this win?” You let out a hum as you were thinking over his question.

“Shouldn’t we be celebrating with Chanhee then?”

“Chanhee has something else he needs to attend to,” He says only for you to pout.

“I miss that guy, you know?”

“Well, we can try to celebrate with him on another day.”

You nod. “Well, what do you have in mind?”

“Honestly, I can only think of eating out as an option.”

You started to think of what other things you and Sunwoo could do. “Oh! What about drinking?”

As you look at him excitedly, he only shakes his head with a small smile on his lips.

“No drinking? Why? Is it because it’s your comeback soon?” You ask.

“No, it isn’t that.”

“Well, what’s wrong with drinking? You hate drinking with me, do you?” You tease only for Sunwoo’s smile to get bigger as he shakes his head once more.

It takes him a moment to speak. “I don’t trust myself with alcohol when I’m around you.”

You felt your eyebrows furrow at the statement. With such an ambiguous statement, you were not sure what to make of he just said.

“Okay… well we can just eat out,” You say as you shut off the television screen.

“Alright.”

“But before anything,” You move closer to him and give him another hug. “Thank you again, and I’m so proud of you.”

It is 3:34 PM. You were in the backstage area where The Boyz will be having their comeback showcase. The group wished to extend an invitation to you to show their appreciation for having you work on Chanhee and Sunwoo’s track. As you tried to peek through the curtains, you noticed how big and spacious the stadium was.

“Y/N-ah, we have to move,” Soeun grabs your attention by tapping your soldier.

As she started to walk, you followed her closely. Every time staff members would pass by you, they would always greet you ecstatically. It still feels surreal that many people recognize you and respect you despite 1CON disbanding two years ago. No matter how washed-out of an artist you try to make yourself out to be, the love and regard you receive from many prove otherwise.

Soeun stops in front of a door that you are unfamiliar with. The moment she knocks, the door swings open to reveal Eric all dressed up in an oversized shirt, fishnets, and leather pants.

“Y/N! It’s so nice to see you here,” He says with a smile and takes a step to the side.

“I’ll see you later. I’m going to meet with Jihoon,” Soeun briefly says before leaving you.

As you take a step inside, you could see Hyunjae, Sangyeon, and Juyeon getting their makeup done. In contrast, Changmin, Chanhee, and Younghoon were busy playing around while Jacob, Haknyeon, and Kevin were on their phones showing each other TikTok videos. All of them were dressed up in clothing that would involve corsets, fishnets, leather, and more. 

“Y/N! You’re here!” Haknyeon exclaims.

As everyone greeted you, you could only smile. “Hi everyone, I’m sorry I could not bring you guys anything to congratulate you on your comeback. However, I would like to treat you guys to dinner one day.”

“Ah, thank you! You really don’t need to,” Sangyeon responds.

“Please, I insist. I mean, you gave me an opportunity to participate in this album so it seems only right. I also got to make some new friends through this opportunity.”

Chanhee cannot help but smile. “Y/N, I still cannot believe that we got you to work on the NEWSUN track. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.”

“Will you be going to the afterparty later?” Kevin asks to which you nod.

Before you could say anything, you notice Sunwoo emerging from the back of the room dressed in a crop top with fishnets under and leather pants. For a moment, you feel your brain blank out at the sight of him (and his abs, though you hate to admit it). But the smile that shows up on his face when he sees you is something you could not help but feel so much warmth from.

“Y/N! I did not expect to see you here in our dressing room,” Sunwoo says as he walks closer to you.

Before you could say anything, he wraps his arms around you and gives you a hug. You felt shy at the sudden action, especially since his other members could see the interaction.

“You came to support me, didn’t you?” Sunwoo says cheekily with a wink to which you only roll your eyes.

“Sunwoo, can’t you just thank me for showing up?”

He only laughs and lets go of you. “Thank you, Y/N.”

“We also have a gift for you,” You spin to look at Juyeon who is not seated in his chair anymore.

You were surprised to see him bring out a signed album of theirs from behind him. “Wow, thank you!”

As he hands you the album, you closely inspect all the signatures on the cover of the album. You notice the smiley faces, the heart, and even a “Thank you, Korea’s Sweetheart Y/N <3” on it. You can only smile.

“If you look through the pages, you might actually find some doodles or notes from us,” Sunwoo shares as he looks over your shoulder.

As you skim through the pages, you can only giggle at the drawings that the members have left. “I hope you didn’t leave any of your drawings here, Sunwoo.”

“Hey, I can draw!” Sunwoo exclaims as you move your head to the side to be able to see him since your back was facing him.

“Whatever you say,” You smirk as you continue to flip through the pages.

Before Sunwoo could argue, Jihoon and Soeun enter the room.

“Ah, I see you’ve given Y/N the album. It would be good to take a picture of you all together and then Sunwoo, Y/N, and Chanhee.”

Everyone collectively agreed to take these photos so you all moved out of the dressing room to take a proper picture. Jihoon held his phone up as you and The Boyz repositioned for the photo. While half of them decided to crouch, the other half of them including yourself remained standing behind them. As you are pushed to the middle of Sunwoo and Changmin, you cannot help but hold the album up so it can be seen in the picture.

“You guys can get a little closer,” Jihoon calls out which has you all squeezing in.

“Perfect! I’ll be taking the picture now.”

“3…” You continued to hold up the album but felt Sunwoo nudging your side.

“2…” His arms start to snake across your waist.

“1…” And he brings you closer to him.

For a moment, you cannot hide the shock that appears on your face. But as you hear the shutter sounds, you quickly cover it up with a smile.

“There we go!” Jihoon says as he looks down at the photo.

“Can we just get Sunwoo, Chanhee, and Y/N?” Soeun asks those who are not part of the picture to step aside.

While Chanhee took his position beside you, Sunwoo’s arm never left your waist. You were hoping that you were not blushing hard enough for the members to notice—let alone Sunwoo. Though you could not help but look over at the other members who seemed to snicker at you two.

“Okay, 3…”

“2…” You felt Sunwoo rest his head on the side of yours.

“1…” All you can do is squint your eyes at his action.

The shutter sounds go off. “Y/N-ah, you’re so cute!” Soeun calls out.

Once you open your eyes, you can see Jihoon smiling in the pictures. “I’ll airdrop these to Soeun.”

“Can I see them?” Chanhee asks.

When Jihoon showed you three the photos, you could see your smile wide as ever and your eyes squinted as Sunwoo's head rested on yours. While Sunwoo opted for a wink, Chanhee chose to give a smile and a peace sign.

“Yah, Kim Sunwoo! Why do you and Y/N make me look like a third-wheeler?” Chanhee complained only for the others to laugh.

“So true, don’t leave out poor Chanhee,” Changmin jokes. 

“Hey, I’m not!” Sunwoo tries to defend himself.

The group continues to argue but all you do is watch. The best thing about these guys is that you could really see their love for one another. No matter how many quarrels or (friendly) bullying they decided to put each other through, you knew how much they cared for one another.

“I hate to break the conversation but we really need you guys on stage in 10 minutes,” Jihoon points out.

As the group quickly made their way closer to the stage, Sunwoo stayed back for a bit.

“I will see you later, right? In the afterparty?” He quietly asks.

You nod. “Yeah, good luck.”

The moment you smile at Sunwoo, he feels himself smile as well. And somehow, he was quick enough to give you a kiss on the cheek. As you were left stunned in your place, he could only smile at your reaction.

“I’ll see you later.”

As he left you and made his way closer to the stage, you could not help but melt at the feeling.

“Y/N… did I really just see that?” Soeun asks as she tries to hold back a squeal.

Instead of replying to her, you quickly open the album and flipped through. In the pages, you saw notes from members that talked about some of their fondest memories with each other during the production of this album. You noticed doodles on different members’ faces and messages directed to you all around.

Once you reached the section that discussed the NEWSUN track, you saw messages from Chanhee and Sunwoo. Before you read Chanhee’s, you found your eyes focusing on what Sunwoo had to say:

Hi Y/N!

I still can’t believe that I got to meet my celebrity crush of how many years just because I asked for you to produce it. I want to say thank you for all the time we spent together when we prepared for this track. This track was already personal to me when Chanhee and I spent months figuring this out, but it became even more meaningful when we got you on it.

In the few days we worked together and the following weeks that came, I’ve learned to grow as an artist and as a person because of you. I’m so glad to have you in my life, and I’m thankful to have gotten to know you in all aspects you shared with me.

♥️ Your number one fan forever, Sunwoo

God, you really needed to know what to make of your relationship with Sunwoo.

The showcase was a success. You really enjoyed watching The Boyz not only perform but even interact with the fans. It kind of reminds you of all the other showcases you had with 1CON. 

Now, you were being driven by Soeun to the location of the afterparty. You were typing away on your phone as you messaged Heejin and Jiwoo.

chuu chuu 🍎: oh my god y/n!! i thought you would ask what you guys really were before the showcase

heekki 🐰: yeah because didnt we agree on that?? what happened 🤔

y/n: well… i didnt LMFAO 😭 guys im so lost like i cant believe he just kissed me on the cheek infront of SOEUN!!!

heekki 🐰: that’s why you need to talk to him!!

heekki 🐰: it’s been so obvious he’s liked you since he met you

chuu chuu 🍎: i think him saying he can’t be trusted with alcohol when he’s with you just proves it too

chuu chuu 🍎: don’t forget the meaning of the song you worked on!!! remember!!!

heekki 🐰: omg he’s been hinting at their song when he said that? damn sunwoo 🤮 you are much smoother than i thought

y/n: STOP!!! okay i will talk to him i swear

“Y/N, we’re here,” Soeun says as she pulls up in front of the same building where you went to that one party with Sunwoo.

You exited the car and glanced back at Soeun. “I’ll see you later, maybe?”

Soeun only chuckles and says, “Yeah, unless Sunwoo decides that he wants to bring you home himself.”

“Soeun! Don’t say that!” You gasp at her comment only for her to laugh.

“Have fun!” With that, she drives off to wherever.

You continued to make your way into the building and tried to find the function room where the afterparty was being held. Thankfully, it was easy to find since you could hear songs from their newly released album being blasted through the walls.

Once you swung the door open, you saw staff members, idols that The Boyz is friends with, and others who are unfamiliar to you. You quickly made your way through the crowd of people in hopes to find anyone who could bring you to Sunwoo.

Before you could take another step, you felt someone grab on your wrist from behind. As you look back, you see Sunwoo dressed out of the crop top but in an open-button shirt with a tank top under.

“You really did come!” He says as loud as he could over the music that blasted.

“Of course I did, we need to celebrate your success.” He only shakes his head at your praise.

“Come on, I’ll bring you to the drinks–”

“Sunwoo, wait.” He stops pulling you in the direction where the bar is.

You suck a breath in. “Can we talk? Like maybe outside?”

For a moment, Sunwoo felt hesitant. His mind could only guess what the conversation may be about. With the way you look at him, he nodded and continued to walk in a different direction.

Eventually, you found yourselves by the outdoor area where you had a good view of the city lights and night sky. With his hand still holding onto your wrist, you continued to follow him to a green steel bench. The two of you sat down beside each other. As you tried to adjust your body to face him, you noticed that his hands have found themselves covering his ears. With that, you decided to rest your hand on top of his and bring it back down to his lap. 

“Hey, it’s nothing bad,” You attempt to ease his anxieties.

Sunwoo sighs. “I’m sorry, I think it’s the nerves.”

You can only smile at him as you draw circles on the back of his hand with your thumb.

“Well, you’re at a party with me where there’s alcohol surrounding us,” You try to joke as you look down at your intertwined hands.

Sunwoo only chuckles. For a moment, silence comes to you two. As the wind comes in and rustles the leaves of the bushes, you are left to hear the sounds of nature (and the muffled sounds of The Boyz’s music) as you try to think of the words to say.

“Sunwoo, we’ve known each other for a while now. I mean, I originally agreed to work with you guys to see Soeun’s new workplace. I had to come to terms that she was going to resign from being my manager. But I think I found it within myself to accept it.”

In some way, your time working with Sunwoo helped you prepare for letting Soeun go as your manager. Somehow, you also found yourself getting accustomed to the feeling of working inside a company throughout all the times you and he would work.

“It’s just, I really was not expecting to gain a friend when I accepted the request, especially a close one. It’s weird because for all the other people I worked with, we’ve only been friendly to each other. But you, you actually took your time to really… know me in the same way I got to know you.”

“You listened, understood, and even comforted me when I needed it. I hope you know that I am thankful for all of that.” You smile. “That’s why above everything, I’m so glad I got to meet you and become friends with you in the process. I mean, you really did show me the pleasures of being your friend. Despite our fight, you always found a way to fix it all up.”

You sucked in a breath with your eyes downcasted. “But Sunwoo, with all the moments we shared, I don’t… even know what we are. The more time we spend with each other, the more boundaries keep getting crossed.”

And you finally let it out. “Sunwoo, what do you want from this—from us? I can’t just let you get away with all the flirting, the compliments, even the kisses.”

You hear Sunwoo chuckle which makes your eyes look up to him.

“It’s just funny when you mention kisses as if you didn’t leave me a kiss the night I brought you home.” You cannot help but let a giggle slip out.

“Okay, I’m at fault too. But I’m serious now—I don’t think I would’ve given you that… kiss if it weren’t for all the times you flirted with me.”

Sunwoo smiles as you whisper those last words. With his free hand, he reaches out to your face to caress your cheek. For a moment, he only looks at you with eyes full of adoration.

“Y/N, I like you and I want something with you.” He tucks your hair behind your ear. “For the longest time, you are the one celebrity crush who I followed closely. In your work, performances, and charisma in your Produce 101 & 1CON days, I always found myself admiring you and feeling supported by you. Even if you didn’t know me personally, I always felt as if you motivated me to keep going during my newly debuted days.”

“But when I finally got to work with you, that’s when I got to learn about you more outside of what I saw. In those moments, I realized that what started off as admiration had turned into something intimate and genuine.”

Sunwoo’s thumb draws patterns on your cheekbone. “Remember how I admitted to having a bigger dream other than collaborating with you?”

“Yeah, can’t believe I wasn’t your number one wish.”

“Well, you are.” You cannot help but smile at his words.

“For a long time, I think you’ve always felt like this unattainable wish to have. Yet, I worked so hard to be able to meet and work with you—the universe listened,” He whispers those last words as if he stored such beautiful phrases within him.

“I mean it when I never expected a genuine crush to develop within me when I got to know you more. I don’t want you to think that all of what I feel is based on the crush I had on you when I saw you on TV. No matter what, I never want you to doubt the feelings I have for you.” The moment Sunwoo smiles, you feel every limb of your body filled with warmth.

Before he could say any more, you felt your eyes flicker down to his lips. With him aware of that action, he held himself back from saying anything. His breath hitches at such a small action. As you feel yourself slowly lean in, you let your eyes flicker back up to his.

“Can I?” You whisper.

Instead of Sunwoo replying verbally, he closed the gap between you two. You wish there were words to describe what it feels like to kiss him. For now, you can only think of one word—overwhelmed.

There were so many emotions that came with the kiss; genuineness, joy, and desperation were to name a few. Sunwoo’s plump lips on yours were something you dreamt about late at night; you cannot believe that the dream came true. In the same he described you as an unattainable wish, kissing him felt the same as well. As you feel yourself get stuck in a daze with the kiss, you break it off and rest your forehead against his.

“... Wow.” You felt your heart hammer in your chest as you processed what just happened between you two.

“Was that okay?” He whispers with his eyes still on you.

You take a deep breath. “It was more than okay. I just–I felt so overwhelmed.”

“We can take it down a notch if you would want.”

“No!” You said a little too quickly which made him grin.

“No?” He mocks you.

You scoff. “Just shut up.” And you brought his lips back on yours.

With your lips interlocked for the second time, you cannot help but wrap your arms around his neck. It is as if there is some carnal desire within you to be as close to him as possible. Nothing is on your mind except for Sunwoo; his smile; his heart of gold; his ability to make you smile; his lips. You feel Sunwoo start to smile in the kiss which has you parting ways.

“God, Y/N—I didn’t know you wanted me that bad.”

You frown at him. “As if you don’t want me too, Mr. “I have always had a crush on you” like…” Despite your words, you cannot help the smile that threatens to show itself on your lips.

“Yeah, I do want you,” Sunwoo says so casually as if he did not know the effect his words had.

You feel yourself blush. “You know, you say that shit so easily to me that a part of me started to believe that this was just your way of being friendly and that I was looking too much into it—though many people did keep saying you were hitting on me. Do you do this with others you work with?”

“You talked about me to other people?”

“That’s what you got from what I said?”

Sunwoo lets out a laugh. “I was hitting on you. To be honest, I was doing it since I first met you but I think everything started to feel genuine during our first time in the convenience store. I mean, that’s when I got to actually know you but I’ll never really know when I first started liking you that way. All I know now is that I like you now, no matter if you were in 1CON or not.” He smiles. “And no, I usually think I don’t pay attention much to others the same way I do with you.”

The great thing about Sunwoo is that he always tries to soothe your doubts. Somehow, the universe gave you someone who likes you for all that you are. You two had your own baggage that you guys brought to the relationship, but you knew that anything felt possible as long as he was there.

“Now, what did you tell others about me?”

“Can you not?”

“You know I can’t. I like knowing how much you like me.”

It is 1:47 PM. You were dressed up in semi-formal attire appropriate for meetings. As you held your iPad close to your chest, you felt your palms getting sweaty and your heartbeat booms loud in your ears. The last time you were this nervous was when you were waiting for the final line-up results for 1CON.

“Y/N?” The secretary called out your name.

As you shot up from your seat, the secretary pointed to a door. “You can enter now.”

Once you made your way to the door, you felt yourself take a moment to breathe. The nerves were getting the best of you, but you knew that now is not the time to ruin your chances. You swung the door open and were greeted by Song Jooyoung and Choi Kyusung—the members of Black Eyed Pilseung and CEOs of High-Up Entertainment. 

“Ah, Y/N! It is so nice to meet you once again,” Mr. Song says as he gets up from his chair to shake your hand.

“Ah, Mr. Song and Mr. Choi, it is a pleasure to see you once more.” Once Mr. Song took a seat, you sat in the chair across the two.

“I guess it is only right to first say that we were pleasantly surprised to see you when we opened auditions. It’s not all the time that you see Korea’s sweetheart wanting to audition for your company,” Mr. Choi says.

You smile at the two. “You’ve certainly improved since 1CON disbanded. Not only have you been producing music for yourself and artists but your vocals and movements have certainly grown over the years. When you weren’t signed, were you actively practicing?”

“Actually, I think I’ve been slacking when it comes to dancing. It was really me, my old manager, and two colleagues that really helped in making sure I would still be relevant in the industry.” You admit to Mr. Song.

“I mean, we can only imagine. It must have been a difficult experience,” Mr. Song says.

You let out a sigh. “It’s… definitely an experience. I think I learned a lot from this.”

“Well, you will have all the time to tell us about it later on. We evaluated your audition along with your recent works over the past two years,” Mr. Choi starts off. “After careful consideration, both Jooyoung and I agreed that you would be perfect for High-Up Entertainment. With your current skill set, we believe we can help you further hone these in hopes that you can reach your true potential.”

“Here in High-Up, we believe in the importance of artistic freedom. Not only will you be able to share your aspirations and dreams with us but we will guide you all throughout the process. Rest assured, you will not be alone—it is important to us that our artists can speak of what they wish to pursue,” Mr. Song says.

“Y/N, we know how difficult you’ve had it in the industry as an independent artist. Most of the time, you are criticized or praised for choosing to work on your own.” Mr. Choi takes a deep breath. “But we want to make sure that you know that we are here to support you every step of the way. You won’t have to work alone anymore.”

You feel yourself smile at the news. It means a lot to you for Mr. Choi and Mr. Song to say those words. After being subjected to mistreatment by different companies and being pushed under the spotlight for everyone to comment on everything you do, it warmed your heart to know that there are people who do care.

Not everyone is wishing on your downfall, and not everyone wants to treat you like a tool. Over the course of time, you realized that some people want to see you succeed.

“Thank you so much for having me,” You say as you bow your head.

“Before we officially sign you into the company, we will briefly discuss the terms of your contract. We will be sending it to your email right now,” Mr. Choi says as he types away on his laptop.

“Are you free to go over it? Don’t worry, we won’t pressure you to sign it right away. After all, we want you to have enough time to carefully deliberate.”

Instead of verbally answering Mr. Song, you opted for a nod.

“Alright, let’s get started.”

“Soeun, I got in!” You exclaim as you were seated on the bus going back to your place.

“Oh my god, I’m so happy for you! And you’re under the care of Black Eyed Pilseung.”

“Don’t worry, I haven’t signed the contract.”

You hear Soeun let out a sigh of relief. “Oh thank god, Y/N. Please let me look through it tonight and I’ll email you back.” You chuckle at her reaction.

“Of course. I’ll be sending the original and revised contracts your way. It’s funny how you’re still looking out for me even if you work in IST now.”

“I’ll always look out for you.” You smile at Soeun’s reply.

It’s been four months since Soeun officially resigned from being your manager. During those four months, you did not accept any offers for any collaborations. You knew that it would make your life complicated if you entertained any offers without any manager present. Instead, you focused on creating more tracks for yourself and scouting a company that you felt is worth trusting.

The bus was nearing your stop. As you got off your seat, you waited for the doors to open.

“Thank you, Soeun. I mean, you’ve done so much for me,” You say as you finally step out of the bus.

“Hey, I hope you’re still not beating yourself up over the fact I left JYP Entertainment with you. That was my decision, you know?” Soeun said as you were walking back to your place.

You let out a sigh. “I know, but it was hard to just be… okay with it. But I hope you're enjoying what you do in IST.”

“I actually am. I’ve been helping out Jihoon often with The Boyz and handling some of the trainees. You know, Jihoon was not lying when he said The Boyz are really… boys.” You let out a laugh at Soeun’s sharing.

“C’mon, it’s a group of like 11 guys. You must have at least expected it.”

Soeun groans. “I know. Thankfully, they’re nice and fun to be with most of the time. Though they can get out of hand.” You can only laugh.

You finally reached your place and tried to fish out your keys. “Hey, I’ll call you back. I just got back to my place. I’ll send you the documents later.”

“No worries! Take care and love you!”

“Love you Soeun! Thank you again.” Once she hangs up, you successfully retrieve your keys and unlock the door.

As you entered your home, you closed the door behind you. “I’m home!”

“Welcome back!” Sunwoo says as he comes from the kitchen dressed up in a sweater and checkered sleep pants.

You and Sunwoo have been together since you confronted him the night of his showcase. Most times, you found yourselves staying at your place since Sunwoo shares a dorm with Chanhee, Changmin, and Younghoon. During the past months, Sunwoo has been with you during this weird unemployment but self-discovery period. Never was he ever condescending to you, and you needed that desperately.

“Hey, you,” You say once Sunwoo pecks you on the lips.

“You know, you still look so good in that outfit.”

You chuckle as he looks at you from top to bottom. “I know Sunwoo, you said that when you saw me getting ready.”

“Yeah, but…” Sunwoo gives you one more kiss. “I just want to remind you.”

“Well, thank you. I like those pants on you.”

“You like it more when it’s off.”

You roll your eyes. “Point taken.”

As you made your way to the living room, Sunwoo followed closely behind you. The two of you took a seat on the couch.

“So… how did the meeting go?” Sunwoo finally asks.

You smile at him. “I got in!”

“Really? Y/N, that’s huge!” He says as he brings you into an embrace.

“I know! It’s crazy that I might be working under Black Eyed Pilseung.” You giggle at his reaction.

He gives you a kiss on the forehead. “I’m so proud of you. I never doubted you.”

“Yeah. During all the times I was panicking, you were always there to keep me at ease,” You murmur as you nuzzle your face into his neck.

“Though, I need to go through the contract again with Soeun. Wanna go through it with me tonight?”

“Of course, I’d do anything for you,” Sunwoo says as kisses your cheek.

You feel yourself smile at his words. He never fails to comfort you with words that feel as if they came out of a poet (though you could consider him a poet with how many lyrics he has written).

“I know you do, and I’d do anything for you too,” You say as you look up at him.

“Yeah, you let me stay in your home even when you’re not around.”

You roll your eyes. “Sunwoo, you practically live here at this point considering all the times you’ve slept over.”

“You don’t want me over?” He pouts.

“You know I do.” You look away from him only to be greeted with more kisses all over your face.

“Of course I do!” He teases as you groan playfully at his kisses.

“Sunwoo! You’re so obsessed with me.” He laughs and gives you one more kiss on the lips.

For a moment, you two look at each other with adoration. Nothing was said but it did not matter for all that needed to be uttered was shared in that moment.

“I love you,” Sunwoo whispers.

You feel your lips quiver at Sunwoo’s confession. Never did you ever expect yourself to be liked by someone in the way Sunwoo likes you.

“I love you too,” You say in response.

As you see Sunwoo smile at your words, you knew that your future would have him in it. At that moment, you knew how lucky you were to be loved by Sunwoo.

if you liked this, please take some time to like and reblog this!

#zzoguri works #deoboyznet #kflixnet #the boyz x reader #the boyz #kim sunwoo #kim sunwoo x reader #kim sunwoo angst #kim sunwoo fan fiction #the boyz angst #the boyz fluff #kim sunwoo fluff #the boyz kim sunwoo #of boundaries and secret glances (i'm lucky to be loved by you)

[heavyhitterheaux]

Let Them Know What's Mine

A First Lady of Private Garden Fic

AN: if you come for Jack's boo, he might just want to beat the shit out of you

Synopsis: You have an opportunity to do a feature with another artist for a lot of money. Only problem is getting your husband to approve.

Pairing: Husband!Jack Harlow x Wife!Reader

Requested by: @Bsisbsjssjs

Please Do Not Repost My Content Anywhere

With the success of your second album 777, you were on cloud 9 and you were finally getting the recognition that you deserved. Jack and PG couldn't have been more proud of you, but you were always thinking about what's next and how you wanted more. Just about any and everyone wanted for you to do a feature with them and the list was growing by the day. You already had done collaborations with Gucci Mane, Lil Baby, 21 Savage, Lil Wayne, Mariah Carey (a fucking dream), your best friend Saweetie, City Girls, Saucy Santana, and your hubby of course (hint hint go read Sex Lies) but you were always wanting more for your brand just like him and to grow your fanbase.

The two of you had worked towards this level of success for close to ten years and there was no way that you would let up now. That's where your manager Brandi came in. 

She was working overtime to get all of the features that you wanted to do get approved by your label.

However, there was a particular feature by a particular singer that caught your eye that wanted to do a feature with you.

And there was no way in hell that your husband would go for it.

At all.

Everything was a go for the feature as long as you said yes, that’s what Brandi told you.

Being the caring and considerate wife that you were, you always asked your husband for his opinion and vice versa. The last thing either of you wanted to do was make the other uncomfortable or do something that the other wouldn't approve of.

You told each other everything and the last thing that you ever wanted to do was go behind your husband's back and break his trust in you.

This particular artist has openly mentioned how big of a crush that he had on you in just about every single interview that he did.

It seems as if he could never keep your name out his mouth and that bothered Jack to no end.

Like, Jack was ready to throw hands at any given moment over his baby girl.

Well, this particular singer had to get over it seeing as you have been a married woman for now almost five years and knowing you and Jack, that was not about to end any time soon. 

The little crush with Dua was different and just seen as playful banter between the two of you.

If he were to try the same thing, Jack would kick his ass with no hesitation.

However, he was offering a lot of money to get you on his song.

More money than you have ever been offered for a verse.

How much you say?

50k

You admit you had gotten close to that before seeing as Saweetie had cashed out 45k for you. Only the best for her bestie and nothing less.

However you wanted to do this. Get more exposure and let people know that you were talented and here to stay.

Before you approached your husband, you decided to go to your other best friend to see what he thought. Urban would always steer you in the right direction no matter how much the two of you might not agree.

Urban.

"Urby baby! I have a question!"

"If it involves going to pick up another sex toy for you count me out. Make 2fo do it."

"That was one time! I just didn't want Jack to see it and wanted for it to be a surprise!"

"Excuses, excuses!"

"You act as if you weren't compensated for it." You replied while eyeing him knowing that he knew exactly what you were referring to.

"Fine, ask your question."

"Sooo, a lot of artists are wanting to collaborate with me now and Brandi is trying to make it all happen."

"We know this. My best friend is the shit."

"But umm, there's one person who wants me to do a verse and is offering me a lot of money and uhh...."

"What's the problem?"

"This person has outright said how big of a crush they have on me like multiple times."

Urban needed no further explanation and immediately knew who you were talking about.

It looked like he wasn’t about to go for it either. 

"Ain't no way in hell Jack is about to let you do a feature with him. My answer is no too because of how toxic he is. I don't want you around him either. I don't like him and don't like the vibe he gives off. It's borderline disrespectful because he's acting as if you aren't married."

"But Urby he's willing to give me 50k for the verse. No one has ever given me that much. This could be amazing for me and my career. He is huge right now."

"Y/N, you and him in the studio alone? Jack will have your ass and his and somehow my ass will get dragged into it too because I always am."

"I still want to ask him and see what he says."

"Have you met your husband? What the hell do you think would make him say yes?"

Liked by jackharlow, saweetie, urbanwyatt, druski2funny, giveon, and 4,375,189 others

y/ninsta: bitches wishin they could see me fail 😉😘

📸 cred: my baby jackharlow since he stole urbanwyatt's camera 🤭

jackharlow: got the baddest chick in the game wearing my chain 😍

y/ninsta: jackharlow all you baby 😉

giveon: damn. you definitely know how to put on a show. maybe I can get one of my own?

saweetie: nuh uh giveon slide yo ass smooth up outta here before Jack sees this

sza: giveon because he will tear you apart over his baby. don't nobody go near the first lady unless he approves. stop playin.

normani: I already know he saw it so lemme get some popcorn. jackharlow we got a situation!!

jackharlow: giveon the only private show she puts on is for me. she looks even better when I take everything off before I slide in that. what you lookin so hard at a married woman for?

theestallion: damn

saweetie: here it goes. I already knew he saw it.

normani: the only dick y/ninsta is interested in is her husband's

giveon: jackharlow just stopping by to admire the beauty

jackharlow: giveon well keep it moving since all that right there is mine

giveon: jackharlow so I can look but can't touch?

saweetie: giveon you better get the hell on before her HUSBAND sees that

jackharlow: giveon you in her comments but her pussy is literally sitting on my face. you not on my level and will never be.

urbanwyatt: oh shit 😳 👀

urbanwyatt: giveon now you being disrespectful towards my girl. You know she's married so take your ass on somewhere.

"What the fuck is his problem?"

When the Instagram fiasco went down you were in the studio with Jack and the rest of PG and everyone was fuming.

"Babe, come on. Just ignore it."

"Ignore what? Nah he needs to take his ass on."

"Y/N, we can’t just ignore that. Shit is getting creepy." Shloob added while looking at the Instagram post.

"Like he talks about you in every single interview he does. He needs to stop that shit." 2fo replied and was in the corner ready to throw hands.

"I just don't want to cause any tension."

"Nah. Who the hell put that ring on your finger? ME. Your last name is Harlow and he better get that through his fucking head."

"Baby..."

"No Y/N. This is some stalkerish disrespectful shit. He got one more time to do something like this before I beat the shit out of him. No one talks about my wife like that."

You were sitting next to Urban and all he did was shake his head.

"I love how yall protect me but I promise I can handle this."

"NO!" All of them said at the same time.

"Like I said, when I see his ass in public and you're with me, if he even breathes or looks in your direction it's on sight. You're mine and no one else's. You know that right?"

You simply nodded your head as you proceeded to lay it on Urban's shoulder.

There is no way in hell he's about to let you do the feature now.

---

You were lying your head on Jack’s chest as he was flipping through channels finding something for the two of you to watch. You figured that he had probably cooled down from the incident that happened on instagram a few days ago and decided to go ahead and ask him.

“Baby...” You said while poking his side to get his attention.

“Hmm?”

“Sooo I got an offer to do a collab with another artist. Brandi has really been making moves happen for me.”

“That’s good baby. I’m proud of you.” He replied while placing a kiss on your forehead.

“I just.... I want to ask you something and I need you to promise not to get mad.”

“Wait a minute. I’m already there because it better not be who I think it is.”

“Umm...”

“Who is it?”

“Giveon.” You whispered while looking down and breaking eye contact with him.

You were met with silence and when you looked back up at him his entire face was red and you saw that his neck vein was poking out indicating his frustration.

“You want to run that one by me again?”

“But baby...”

“No. Hell no and why the fuck would he ask you that? And why would you ask me that because you already know what my answer is gonna be!”

“Jack, he’s offering me the most money that anyone ever has for a feature for a verse!”

“And I’m supposed to care?”

“Babe, this is a big deal!”

“No. Final answer.”

“You’re being an ass.”

“Am I?”

“Babe, you are because I’m trying to get paid.”

“What the hell do you want to buy? I’ll get it. If you want that new G Wagon it’s yours and we can go to the dealership tomorrow. I’ll throw in a few Birkin bags and Telfar bags too. What colors do you want? Nothing is off limits when it comes to you.”

“That isn’t the point!”

“You are MY wife the last time I checked. The way that he always talks about you is disrespectful knowing that you’re married and I have no problem teaching his ass a lesson at the next red carpet event that I see him at. If he wants this to turn into a Will Smith and Chris Rock situation we can. The answer is no and don’t EVER ask me to do a feature with him again. You got it?”

All you did was roll your eyes and Jack was not amused.

“Don’t roll your eyes at me. Answer my question.” Jack replied while tilting your chin to look up at him.

“I got it.”

“Matter of fact, block his ass right now. Get your phone.”

“Babe! I can’t do that!”

“Says who?!”

“Brandi!”

“Fine, but he better not say shit the next time we cross paths. You’re mine, understand?”

“Yes, okay. I get it.”

"You know what?"

"What?"

"Assume the position because I'm about to teach your ass a lesson. I can't even believe you asked me that shit."

--

A few days had passed and you were now in your walk in closet looking for an outfit to wear since Jack was taking you out for date night when your phone rang indicating that it was him. 

“Yes, Jackman?”

“Damn. Full government. You still mad at me mamas?”

“No. I’m fine.”

“Stop lying to me. You weren’t mad at me when I was eating you out last night.”

“I just really wanted to do something to widen my fanbase and I thought that this would be it. And shut up.”

“Baby, there will be plenty of opportunities for that. This is just the beginning of your career.”

“Whatever you say.”

“Baby girl, have I ever steered you wrong?”

“Yes.”

“When?!”

“Did you forget you almost got me pregnant when we were 16?”

“Baby, that was in the past and you know my pull out game has gotten better.”

“Still annoyed with you.”

“You still love me and come outside.”

“I’m not dressed yet.”

“We aren’t leaving yet, baby just come on. Bring your pretty ass self here."

You quickly hung up and followed directions to walk outside and see the new G Wagon in charcoal gray in your driveway and Jack standing next to it.

“Surpriseeee Mrs. Harlow!”

“JACK!”

“You like the color mamas? It was between this one or the black one but I figured you would like this one better. Here are the keys. I made sure that it had a back up camera since I know yo ass can barely see over the steering wheel.”

“JACK!”

“You said my name already, baby.”

“You are just....”

“What? Oh, and open the door.”

You went over to the driver side door and opened it to see four new Birkin bags and four new Telfar bags in the front seat

“JACK!”

“Baby, why do you insist on yelling my name when I’m not even deep in you? I mean we’re going to get to that later, but...”

“You didn’t have to do that!”

“Yes, I did. To let everybody know I can take care of all your needs and you don’t have to want for anything. Oh, and one more thing.”

“There’s more?!”

“Hold out your hand mamas.”

You opened your palm and Jack simply laid 500k in it.

“JACK!”

“I more than doubled the amount that he was going to pay you so text Brandi and tell her to find your next feature because it won’t be him.”

“You are something else.”

“Nah, I’m someone who takes care of my wife and tells other motherfuckers to back off because all this, meaning you, is mine.”

He replied while pulling you in close to him and kissing you.

“Damn, you got me hot and bothered. Fix it. NOW.”

“You don’t even have to ask twice.” Jack responded as he threw you over his shoulder.

Liked by y/ninsta, champagnepapi, saweetie, urbanwyatt, and 5,256,930 others

jackharlow: my baby the baddest and wants for nothin 😍

She wanted to do a feature for 50k for her verse. Gave her a G Wagon, eight purses, and 500k in her hand instead.

We good over here in the Harlow household 😏

saweetie: okay Mrs. Harlow I see you!

sza: you betta let em know jackharlow

urbanwyatt: I need a dime that's top of the line...

y/ninsta: cute face, little waist, wit a big behind ayeee!

privategarden: you have to get through us to even get close to the first lady. many have tried and ALL have failed 😏

2forwoyne: you already know!

jackharlow: we don't play about ours over here!

y/ninsta: I love how yall love me and protect me. I appreciate yall so much 🥺

privategarden: always and forever mamas!!

Taglist:

@harlowsbby

@babyharleezy

@hoodharlow

@stefansalvatoresgf

@jackiehollanderr

@primadxna-girl

@dessmxsworld

@cockslutslurper3000

@raelorns21

@variety-fangirl

@gbaabyyyy

@kamorsstuff

@harlowthot

@sinsandsuccubus

@curlyhairclub

@bootlegroach

@haylexo10

@thinkingaboutjharlow

@laylasbunbunny

@fluidsentiment

@charli123456789

@moody4world

@yourstrulymayah

@yana4life

@beanbagbitch

@alinadolans

@carma-fanficaddict

@minaxcarter

@arination99

@xjup1t3r

@venusvinc

@jacksmoviestar

@jackharloww

@midnight-star47

@jackharlowsbabe

@minkookie95

@inluvwithladybug

#jack harlow #jack harlow x black reader #jack harlow x reader #jack harlow fluff #jack harlow angst #jack harlow fic #jack harlow fanfic #jack harlow concept #urban wyatt #urban wyatt x reader #urban wyatt x black reader #urban wyatt fic #urban wyatt fluff #urban wyatt fanfic #urban wyatt concept

[rickie-the-storyteller]

Steph's Crew - Book 3 Summary

I was meant to post this last year to sort of close the Steph-related content and focus more on other projects. Actually, I was meant to post a lot of things last year...

Bretanie analysis (on here)

Season 1 of AU (on my second blog)

Jekyll and Hyde, but in the modern world (I've been working on that for fun on the side, and I've decided to post the full story on Wattpad)

Revealing the identity of the secret blogger (I'll probably do it in this post, since it is relevant to this part of the story as well)

I've been so busy, y'all. Sorry for the delays.

I just want to make sure I have time to do everything as best as I possibly can, so you can enjoy it. I think it was less pressure posting the Steph's Crew dialogues and snippets because they were old pieces of work, and since the time I first wrote them, I've neatened it up and made it considerably better than it was... I know that the stuff I've shared isn't the final product, so I don't feel the urge to make it perfect. At least not to the extent that I do with all these other projects lol.

Hopefully this can help make up for lost time. I'll get to the other posts mentioned on that list as soon as possible, but until then... here's a summary of the third and final instalment of Steph's Crew!

Enjoy!

Keep in mind that I'm still working on this one. It isn't finished yet, but I wanted to give you guys a rough idea of how it goes. And prepare for this, because it's pretty unhinged lol. I collaborated with my sister on some of the wackier ideas...

Book 3 is titled "Story of a Broken Thing." It picks up where Book 2 ends off, more or less (or at least, it fills us in on what went down since the end of Book 2). If you can't remember how UVC ended, then here's a link to that summary:

But to put it briefly, the crew have successfully solved the mystery, Brelise have split up again, Bret's gone on tour with his band, Dalice are together, Bephanie is over, and Stephanie got arrested... but then escaped from holding. Nobody knows where she could have gone.

Which leads us to Book 3. It is set a couple of years later (I think about 5 years after Book 2 ended), and a lot of stuff has happened in all that time...

Dylan and Alice have broken up. Wasn't meant to be, I guess. But don't worry - they're still friends, and there's no bad blood between them or anything.

Victor and Jen have unfortunately split up as well, leading to Jen moving back to Texas. Alice decides to go with her. She's doing alright - currently taking some classes at a local college, and helping out at her old dance studio in her spare time. She's also still making YouTube videos.

Bret's band is still doing well. They're not touring anymore at the moment, but they are super busy recording a new album, and filming music videos. Plus, they have been asked to perform at the Jingle Bell Ball towards the end of the year, which is very exciting. Even though he has moved back to the UK, because of the nature of Bret's job, he can't just stay in London with his aunt anymore like how he used to... but he still comes to visit her as often as possible. And he and Elise are still close friends, so that's cool. He's been seeing other people over the past couple of years, though.

Elise and Charlie are together. She decided to give him a chance. They're really happy together and they seem to have a pretty healthy, solid relationship for the most part (they've been together for two years straight by the time Book 3 has started). Charlie still harbours some degree of jealousy/wariness towards Bret, though, since she's still really good friends with him. He's never once brought it up to her, though. But it becomes a big deal in this part of the story... more on that later.

Ben isn't really in this part of the story... at least not until towards the end, when Stephanie randomly decides to call him for some reason. But he's doing fine. Moved back to his cooking job from Book 1 lol. It was good money, and now he doesn't have another person to share it with! Wait, that sad-

And by now, Dylan, Connor (who has finally moved on from Daisy! Thank God), Elise and Charlie have all finished their university courses. Yay!

In fact, this is what kickstarts the plot. Dylan's family (we get to see them again in this one! Specifically his mother, her new husband and his younger brother Sam. I feel like we didn't get enough of them last time) is very proud of him for finishing such a long, tough course (3 years, + 1 foundation year + 1 year of masters), and they decide to reward him with an epic summer trip to Australia. And it is during this holiday that he sees Steph again (she's not in Australia btw - he sees her when he goes with a family friend to the Samoan islands).

She fills him in on how she got there. I haven't neatly worked this part out... but basically, Reggie helped her leave the country (idk whether to make him a villain or some kind of loose cannon/antihero type of guy. Like, he's awful most of the time, but he's also one of Stephanie's oldest friends, and he can be genuinely nice when he wants to be. Especially to her. He needs to be in trouble tho lol. I think the thing about him is that he gets away with his awful behaviour easily, whereas Stephanie is kind of forced to be held accountable, even if she actively runs away from the consequences of her actions sometimes...)

After that, she was stuck on her own again for a while and needed a job. So she applied for a job at a local Natia hotel (Natia is a famous line of hotels... kind of like Hilton, to give a known real-life example). She didn't have enough money for a cab or bus, so she had to walk the whole way there through heavy rain. By the time she got there, she looked terrible lol. But when she arrived, she bumped into a handsome young man who kindly helped her out. He got her a room and some clothes to change into, which helped in making a good first impression and whatnot. She got the job!

Later, she found out that the guy's name was Jordan Natia. The son of the hotel line founder (he also owns the hotel she got a job at). She thanks him for her help, and he invites her for dinner... and the rest is history.

And by history, I mean she ends up marrying him lol. Dylan finds out that she now lives at the resort that he and his family friend are currently staying at. She also has a baby daughter named Mia (short for Miranda. Not suspicious at all). She loves her life so much right now. She's always prided herself on being a strong independent woman who can take care of herself, but she's surprised at how much she's enjoying being a stay-at-home mother and housewife lol. She loves spending time with her baby, and she loves her husband a lot, too. He takes good care of her. However, similar to Ben, he doesn't really know all that much about her (Jordan goes through a similar arc to Ben's in Book 2, where he finds out the truth about Stephanie, and it changes the way he sees her. Minus the cheating lol).

Dylan is shocked at how much Steph has changed since the last time he saw her, but he's happy for her at the same time. He can see that she's genuinely happy and seemingly at peace, which is great.

Meanwhile, back in the UK, Charlie has decided to propose to El. He's taking it VERY seriously - even asked for her family's blessing and everything. They all said yes... even Adam lol (he's grown to like Charles by now). One summer evening, he pops the question (in a truly beautiful and romantic way btw), and Elise says yes in the moment, but she doesn't know if she truly feels ready for marriage yet. Something about the situation feels wrong to her, but she doesn't know what it is. However, instead of communicating her mixed feelings to her now fiance, she decides to distract herself with hangouts with her family and friends, as well as getting into her work and other hobbies, preferring to think about anything other than her problems (man, does THIS sound familiar lol). Charlie starts noticing a change in El's behaviour and it begins to really upset him (especially since Bret is one of the people she starts spending more time with, and we all know how she feels about him), causing more strain in their relationship. It only gets worse when they find out about Stephanie's whereabouts...

Dylan messages the others about his trip everyday through a group chat. One night he reveals that he's reunited with an old friend of theirs and sends a picture of him and Stephanie hanging out. The others are shocked. Elise especially.

The situation started becoming somewhat of a controversy in the news... people started talking about it more online, many blogs and news websites (including The Looking Glass) started covering it. Alice made a video on YouTube talking about it (and it came from the unique angle of her knowing the person from school and being their friend and everything. She didn't mention Steph by name, though). It blew her channel up.

The story of Stephanie's escape was quickly resurfacing back into people's minds after being forgotten for such a long time. And this wasn't good for Steph lol. Especially after finally making a life for herself that she was genuinely truly happy in.

But that's not the end of the story.

I'll tell you the rest in part 2 of this summary!

#rickie-the-storyteller #writerblr #steph's crew #original content #book 3

[disenchantingwrites]

If you'd be up for it, could you write a Ryan Ross x reader thats friend's to lovers?? Maybe something where reader is involved in the music business but not famous and they become introduced that way and quickly form a friendship? They/them or she/her if possible. It's rough being a Ryan Ross girlie in 2022 and I'm so excited that people still write for him 😭

Story for a Love Song • R.R

Being a small-time record producer, you're eager to accept any opportunities that present themselves. You just didn't expect that working with Ryan would lead to so many feelings.

Ryan Ross x Female Reader

A/N: okay first off, thank you for the request, i started writing as soon as i read it (also I'm not sure if you wanted the reader to be a singer, so i can do another one if you want). And the struggle is real for Ryan Ross fans in 2022, we're like a dying breed :(

---- ---- ---- ----

(1372 Words)

For years, producing had only been something on the side. You’d spend time with small bands and artists, even friends’ bands, and assemble their songs and albums for a few hours in the studio you’d book. Then the rest of your time was spent going to your primary job, the moneymaker for your borderline bankrupt lifestyle.

“You’re going to burn yourself out,” your parents would say each time you would call. “Maybe you should take a break and catch up on some sleep.”

But those sleepless nights eventually paid off. You’d made enough to focus solely on your producing career. And, although small within the industry, you loved every second you had doing your job. Any project you had, you poured your heart into any project you had, undoubtedly passionate about achieving the perfect sound.

Your passion was what drew Ryan to offer his work to you in the first place. He wanted a fresh sound for the new album he was working on, and hearing what you’d done for others had only solidified you as his top choice. And in sending off the simple email asking for your talents, he’d unknowingly changed your life.

For the days you spent working together, you and Ryan developed a close bond. He was different to the others you’d worked with, both as a person and musically. His lyrics were profound, and his music moved you, touching your heart, causing it to thump until you could hear it drumming in your ears. As your time together bled into months of collaboration, you realised it wasn’t just his music that made your stomach twist into knots.

“If you keep looking at me like that, it might inflate my ego too much,” Ryan joked when he’d caught your astonished stare for the dozenth time.

You’d tried desperately to keep your feelings for Ryan under control, but the closeness between the two of you made it hard. The constant proximity he had with you whenever you were together didn’t help. He was almost always touching you in some way, whether it was pressing his shoulder against yours or instigating a game of footsies while you listened to the songs. 

You had no idea how you’d be after the two of you were finished collaborating. You already knew the two of you would keep talking; the close bond between you had grown so tight in such a short period of time. Truthfully, your only worry was whether you would ever find the courage to admit your feelings to him.

“If you keep working like this, this album will be finished earlier than it needs to be.” Your head turned away from your station at his comment. It was one of the rare days you looked forward to when you and Ryan were both in the studio. He only further surprised you when you felt his hand settle on your shoulder as his body leaned over yours. “I can tell you’ve been working late on this ‘cause of those circles under your eyes.”

His free hand poked your cheek, and you managed to glance at his face to see him grinning humorously at you before he pulled away. Aware of the fact your heart was beating a million miles an hour just from his simple actions, you leaned back in your chair, head turned around.

“C’mon, there’s a little cafe not far from here I saw last time, and I want to try their raspberry muffin,” Ryan urged, and you could practically hear the eager smile in his words.

You sighed, somewhat dramatically, as you turned your chair to him. “Alright, you’ve convinced me.”

--- --- ---

You and Ryan sat opposite each other in the small cafe you wish you could say he dragged you to. True to his word, he’d bought the raspberry muffin and a hot chocolate, only a mild wonder to you. You thought it was cute, much to Ryan’s chagrin.

“They even gave you little marshmallows, look,” you grinned, pointing to the two sugary treats on the side of his plate.

You could see the slight colour that rose in his cheeks as he used his spoon to hide the marshmallows from your view. You could only laugh further at his contrite reaction, tipping your head back ever so slightly, your eyes scrunched.

Your laughter only stopped when you felt something hit your nose. Startled, you silenced and opened your eyes to see Ryan stifling his laughter as he watched you. You looked down, finding one of his marshmallows sitting on top of your food. Diverting your attention back to Ryan, you noticed he’d shifted so his head was resting in his palm, and there was a wide smile on his face as he watched you.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” You murmured, having to avert your gaze as the heat rose in your own cheeks.

“You’ve got marshmallow dust on your nose,” he replied simply. He picked up a napkin and, just as you were about to reach out and take it from him, leaned over and wiped the residue from your face. “There." His voice sounded far away, quieter, and he halted any further actions as he peered at your face.

“I think it’s my turn to ask why you’re looking at me like that.”

“What?” You managed to strangle out, surprised by Ryan’s inquiry.

The singer sat back in his chair, placing the napkin down, a cheeky smile on his lips. “Friends don’t look at each other like that.”

You almost choked on the sharp breath of air you took. Incoherent noises escaped your mouth as you struggled to think of something to say in response. “I—what?”

Ryan let out another short laugh. “I guess it’s lucky I think of you as more than a friend.”

You blinked, dazed by the seeming confession. “More? Are you…?”

“I thought the x’s I attached to my good night and good morning texts were enough of a giveaway,” Ryan seemed to be more bemused than anything by your confusion about his declaration. He picked up his phone, tapped away for several moments, and then showed the screen to you.

“What’s this?” You frowned, accepting the phone from him.

“I realised while we were working together that I liked you, but I,” he let out a soft sigh and ran a hand through his hair, “I didn't know how to tell you, so… I wrote it down.”

You glanced from Ryan to the phone in your grasp, only to realise the note he had pulled up for you contained several paragraphs beginning with, primarily, the same line.

I think I like her because of how she smiles.

I think I like her because of how my name sounds coming from her.

I think I like her because of how she looks at me.

Which slowly evolved into different phrases the more you read.

I think I love her and her laugh.

I think I love her because of how much her messages make me smile.

I think I love her.

You swallowed, pulling the phone back. But before you could focus back on Ryan, a text came through, one with your name followed by a heart, as the sender.

hi.

i love you. x

You managed to gather the courage to look up, finding Ryan with your phone in his grasp, a smile on his face.

“Really?”

“Really.”

Your mouth curled in a broad grin, and, had you not been seated in a cafe with barely touched, you would have launched across and kissed him then and there. Instead, you tapped on the message with your name and typed a text on Ryan’s phone to send to yours.

hi.

did you want to go out on a date with me?

Ryan read the message as soon as it pinged on your phone, then let out a pleased hum.

“Only if we do it tonight,” he replied. You nodded, finally setting the phone back over on Ryan’s side. “Then I’d love to.”

“Brilliant,” you sighed, feeling as though a weight had been relieved from your chest.

The two of you were about to, finally, begin eating again, but you paused.

“Ryan?”

“Hm? Yeah?”

“I love you, too.”

#ryan ross #ryan ross x reader #the young veins #panic at the ryan #panic at the disco #disenchanting writing #disenchanting requests #ryan ross imagine #ryan ross one shot #x reader #female reader #tooth rotting fluff

[pandorasword]

Chaeri as the 8th and youngest member of BTS.

Chaeri's masterlist

Chaeri and The Weeknd as work husband and work wife

A work spouse is a co-worker of the opposite sex with whom you have a close platonic relationship.

The first collaboration

The success of 'Save your tears'

Performing together for the first time

Chaeri as the main character in the videoclip of 'Out of Time'

The second collaboration

Female version of 'Starboy' by Chaeri

Tweets related to them

💭 Chaeri and Abel need to make a full album like nowwww 💭 tbh idk if i'd be alive w/o chaeri and abel. I love them so much 💭 Not everyone can hop on a song and take it to #1. Abel keeps hitting up Chaeri for a reason. He knows who he needs. The song is still stable top 5 but everyone thought it would free fall after hitting 1° #dieforyou

💭 The alchemy between them, damn #TheWeeknd #Chaeri #OutOfTime 💭 Their friendship is adorable 😭 Just look at the way he is thrilled to have her on stage with him #IHeartRadioMusicAwards 💭 Abel really took Chaeri under his wing, he's such a sweetheart 💭 I never thought I'd see the day where my two favorite artists would collaborate, but here we are. Chaeri and The Weeknd sound so good together 💭 I don't get why that BTS girl is collaborating with The Weeknd. They're not even in the same genre. This is just a desperate attempt for attention 💭 Another example of BTS selling out and trying to pander to American audiences. We don't need them here

taglist: @alixnsuperstxr

#bts 8th member #bts female addition #kpop female member #bts addition #kpop female oc #the weeknd

[berriesandjunnie]

duetting with their idol crush [ot13 reactions]

ot13 x afab!reader reactions no translation needed lowercase intended a/n: reader is also an idol! requested by an anon, sorry it took so long!

setting the scene: you debut under pledis a mere year or two after seventeen’s debut. between a fair share of polite bows, awkward smiles and mumbling “hello” in your direction, he’d long discovered a feeling much deeper than silly interactions. to promote both yourself and seventeen further, pledis allowed you to choose one member of seventeen to release a song with on your next album. 

♡ naturally when he was called into the office, seungcheol was more than nervous. had he done something wrong as seventeen’s leader? as an idol? he swallowed the lump in his throat and put on a brave face as he entered. he didn’t know what to say nor how to react when his eyes landed on you, sat at the meeting table in a cosy outfit. you stood, bowing and greeting him respectfully and it was like he was froze in time momentarily before he reciprocated the actions nervously before seating himself. it was announced you’d chosen him to collaborate with on a song and seungcheol suddenly found it hard to breathe. he left the office first, doing a silent celebratory dance in the corridor. 

song vibes: what you waiting for - r.tee ft anda

♡ there was already rumours about your upcoming album floating around the pledis building but jeonghan knew there was no way he’d scored a chance to work on a song with you and promote it. he was asking for too much there. perhaps his latest prank on seungkwan had been too much? it was about time he got scolded for his actions. yet he opened the door to the office so calmly, blood running cold when he saw you. you’d not long come back from a photoshoot, still wearing the glittery make-up. the hairs stood up on his arms and he shuffled to his chair after greeting you, trying to keep his cool. “ahh, i get it - not only am i good vocalist but i’m pretty handsome too,” he replied cockily to the announcement and you shyly laughed in response, making jeonghan chuckle too.

song vibes: endless dream, good night - akmu 

♡ joshua knew damn well you wouldn’t choose him to collaborate with. all week he’d heard the rest of seventeen blabbering on about it, discussing who you’d choose. he was getting tired of it and considerably jealous since he thought the others had more potential. nothing was announced and as he took himself to the office on the basis of “schedule changes,” joshua wondered where the rest of the guys were if this was about schedule. he entered, his heart suddenly jumping into his throat and he bowed to you quicker than you could stand up and bow to him first. “is this about-” “yeah” “holy- thanks i guess,” the interaction was short as he slipped into the chair, his leg visibly bouncing. he couldn’t fuck this up with you.

song vibes: she likes spring, i prefer winter - slchld

♡ junhui hadn’t a clue about the rumours, even though seventeen wouldn’t shut up about them. unusual, considering he knew everything if it regarded you. he couldn’t even think of a reason why he was called to the office - was there a promotion opportunity in china maybe? what junhui didn’t expect was to meet you as you both approached the same office door. he blinked, taking you in as you also stared back for a moment before you both looked away. “wait, you got called to the office too?” he asked, a little dumbfounded. “uh yeah,” you replied shyly, “it’s about our collab song.” junhui’s hand faltered on the handle and you caught it. “yeah.. this meeting was supposed to be the one to tell you.” 

song vibes: 国王与��丐 - hua chen yu ft aska yang 

♡ of course soonyoung knew. being close to gossip king seungkwan had perks and this time it was way more than useful. he’d spent the nights since he found out begging that you chose him, he wanted nothing more to be able to spend the time with you that doing a song together would give him. he just wanted to be in your vicinity for more than a quick interaction in the hallway. he had an inkling when he was called to the office, yet faced nothing but disappointment when you wasn’t in there waiting. it would soon fade as the door opened and you stepped in, apologising for being late. soonyoung’s face would light up instantly, a sigh of relief as he let out a relaxed chuckle despite the fact his ears and cheek were burning red. 

song vibes: i wanna be - key ft jeon soyeon

♡ wonwoo knew somewhat about your upcoming album, he listened to the other members while he’d read but he still had no real clue what it was all about. but he also didn’t know why he was being called to the office unless it was about their upcoming tour. he respectfully bowed to you before he momentarily froze, a little confused as to why you was in the office. “did i get the wrong office? i’m sorry-” “no no, you’re in the right office.” with that being said, wonwoo nodded nervously and shuffled to a chair. following the announcement, his mouth sort of gaped slightly but he kept his calm until he got back to his room that evening, throwing a quiet celebration. 

song vibes: winter flower - younha ft rm

♡ jihoon knew before he was even called to the office - bumzu is more than helpful and of course, jihoon would probably produce most of the music so he might as well have a headstart. but jihoon wanted to confront you and see what genre you wanted with him. so he walked confidently to the office, he couldn’t falter simply because he finally got a chance to work with you but god damn he wanted to. the whole meeting he took you in, drinking in your features and the cosy outfit you was wearing. “i’m looking forward to working with you.” “you too.” we all know he smiled at his laptop screen that night.

song vibes: hello tutorial - zion.t ft seulgi

♡ seokmin had never been so happy yet nervous when their manager leaked that you had the opportunity to duet with a member of seventeen. hell, this was his chance! not only could he try swoon you with vocals and visuals, he was hoping it’d build up his confident enough to ask you for a date. due to the pandemic, the meeting was held through video call and you couldn’t attend - but seokmin was thankful. upon the announcement, he let out an excitable yell (joshua had to yell back to tell him to shut up), punching the air and kicking his legs like a lovesick teen.

song vibes: have we met before - sarah barrios ft eric nam

♡ with a good few interactions, mingyu had managed to become an accomplice of yours and you’d swapped social medias. it was because of this, you felt most comfortable collaborating with him and as much as you was supposed to tell the staff first, you privately messaged mingyu and asked if he’d like to duet with you on your upcoming album. mingyu was working out with wonwoo and seungcheol at the time he read the notification, punching the air and jumping around with a few echoing yells. wonwoo cursed quietly, thankful they’d chose a quieter hour of the day for this workout. 

song vibes: red moon - kard

♡ you’d already solidified that you wanted to collab with minghao months before you even found out you’d be allowed a collaboration song on your newest album. the two of you had awkwardly had to take the same elevator together one day and between shuffling feet and avoiding eye contact, you expressed your admiration to him and admitted you’d like to collab. minghao, absolutely dumbfounded you’d express such gratitude to him, was quick to also agree to a collab. due to this, you decided to be the one to tell him, catching him on the way to seventeen’s dance practise studio. “oh - minghao, hey,” you acted surprised to see him and he smiled, greeting you, “i can have a collab song on my upcoming album with a seventeen member.. just thought you should know so we can prepare it.” minghao let out a shy, breathy laugh as he looked away with his cheeks a rosy hue. “they must have heard that elevator conversation.”

song vibes: 今天妳要嫁給我 - david tao ft jolin tsai

♡ seungkwan undoubtedly knows everything. he gossips twenty-four seven and without shame, not to mention using jeonghan’s tricks to get his way with staff sometimes. that includes their manager and bumzu for this scenario. the moment they announced you was choosing a seventeen member, he was praying and begging the staff to try convince you to choose him - “no, seungkwan, she chooses.” he held onto a thick strand of hope that he could work with you not only because he found you to be a fantastic artist but because he’d fell down a deep pit when it came to liking you. when it was announced he was your chosen member, he fell to his knees in the seventeen dorm, crying joyfully as vernon patted his back awkwardly. 

song vibes: you, who? - eric nam ft jeon somi

♡ as excited as he was about the news, vernon kept his cool well. he didn’t want to get his hopes too high and face disappointment when you chose another member, so he pushed all thoughts to the back of his mind. he did everything to keep it off his mind - what was the point of fretting all day? the problem was, he forgot about it entirely so when he was called to the office, he was more than confused. furrowed brows, he pushed open the door and his mouth fell open the second he saw you, eyebrows lifted and eyes wide as you laughed at his expression, finding joy in how surprised he seemed to be that you were there. “me? are you sure? definitely me?” he panicked, unsure whether he walked into the right office. you nodded, “yes, definitely you.”

song vibes: you, clouds, rain - heize ft shin yong jae 

♡ chan had absolute faith he’d be the chosen member for your collaboration song. he had some gut feeling that was strong and he was following it with delight. no matter how much he listened to the other members discussing it, throwing back and forth each other’s strengths and weaknesses, chan didn’t falter in his beliefs. what did falter his beliefs was when seungcheol was called for an important video call meeting and he wasn’t. frowning, he headed to the in-person meeting he’d been called to. he became a literal statue upon seeing you, standing in the doorway gawking at your shy expression. “i-uh, chan?” your nervous voice snapped him back and he was quick to smirk as if he hadn’t just reacted like that, “so, what type of song you looking for?”

song vibes: mayday - crush ft joy

#cafeshuaaa #seventeen #seventeen fluff #seventeen reactions #seventeen scoups #seventeen jeonghan #seventeen joshua #seventeen jun #seventeen hoshi #seventeen wonwoo #seventeen woozi #seventeen dokyeom #seventeen mingyu #seventeen the8 #seventeen seungkwan #seventeen vernon #seventeen dino #seventeen ot13 #choi seungcheol #yoon jeonghan #joshua hong #hong jisoo #wen junhui #moon junhui #kwon soonyoung #jeon wonwoo #lee jihoon #lee seokmin #kim mingyu #xu minghao

[dustedmagazine]

Aidan Baker et al — Trio Not Trio series (Gizeh)

It’s not as if collaboration over distance wasn’t a thing before March 2020 (it very comfortably and significantly predates the Internet, for one thing), but it quickly became a lockdown (and post-lockdown) truism that COVID accelerated and to some degree normalized that form of collaboration. Nadja’s Aidan Baker already had a lengthy track record of teaming up with all sorts of other artists (both solo and in is his duo with Leah Buckareff), and when everything changed he’d already been contemplating doing a series of trios. A live performance? An installation? When any sort of everyone-in-one-room affair quickly became impossible for the foreseeable future, the idea got adapted into the Trio Not Trio series, which combines both in-person and remote playing with a number of different collaborators, casting a wide net and then creating a series of groups with Baker and two other musicians. For each, Baker and one partner would get together in the studio, work improvisationally, and then send the tapes to the third to add what they would; then each set of recordings were tweaked and rearranged slightly so that all five came in at around an hour apiece.

Even the number of instalments is a mark of the project’s success; Baker originally planned on three trios and got so many positive responses he had to expand. Baker plays guitar throughout and always includes a drummer, but sought to recruit differing instrumentation for the last spot. Each Trio Not Trio release has track names corresponding to the ordinal numbers matching the position of the tracks (so first, second, third, etc.) translated into a different language; the album titles also take this pattern (so first, second, third, etc. but in different languages). Befitting the wide range of playing styles, genres and backgrounds that all of the collaborators brought to the series, the results are varied enough it’s worth looking at each entry in turn.

Yn Gyntaf

Welsh for “firstly,” the initial entry in the series features Oneida drummer John Colpitts (aka Man Forever) and vocalist Stacy Taylor (aka Sarff). It’s also the only one where the drummer of the trio wasn’t the one present for the initial recording. Colpitts is a powerhouse and Taylor’s wordless singing packs its own punch, but for the first five of the seven tracks here, the trio keeps things spectral and foreboding. It’s only when Baker’s guitar splits open the beginning of “Chweched” with two tracks to go that all that potential energy is converted into roiling catharsis (admittedly those two tracks do cover a solid half hour between them). Both halves work well on their own, but the collision of the two is the strongest part of Yn Gyntaf, suggesting the series’ reluctance to settle into one predictable mode even on a trio-by-trio basis.

Siguiente

The second instalment brings in My Disco drummer Rohan Rebeiro and baritone saxophonist Sofía Salvo. All three play this hour loose, spacey and abstract, with all instruments frequently making sounds pretty far away from their standard expressions. Whether it’s the sparse, alien, clicking and droning soundscape of “Primeras (Pts I y II),” the prowling baritone sax haunting “Cuarto,” or the slowly accruing damage of the closing “Septimo,” it is immediately clear that each group is going to bring very different sensibilities and possibilities to the work.

Trzecia

Baker frequently works in various genres in and adjacent to heavy metal, and fans of that side of his work might have their ears perk up seeing that Trzecia brings in Khanate/Insect Ark drummer Tim Wyskida and Pinkish Black’s Daron Beck on keyboards. “Pierwsza” isn’t very brutal at all though, starting with Wyskida’s skittering taps, Beck adding graceful piano accents, and Baker mostly staying subliminal/droning. It’s the closest the series comes to sounding like, say, the Necks. Most of the hour stays in this kind of exploratory mood, with Wyskida frequently leading the way. Only on the closing sixteen minutes of “Szósta” does the hammer come down, Baker and Beck grinding in tandem while Wyskida propels them.

Yonbanme

The fourth entry also includes the series’ second singer in the form of Ayami Suzuki (who also provides electronics), as well as journeyman drummer Tobias Humble. Whereas on Yn Gyntaf Stacy Taylor’s voice was central, giving an element for the listener to follow through the hour, here Suzuki often hangs back, with her voice almost merging with the wash of sound on the ethereal “Nibanme” for example. But then on the more heavily layered title track she also provides the closest thing the series has to discernible lyrics (good luck transcribing them though). The instalment with the fewest tracks (five) and so the longest average track times, Yonbanme may be the only trio to (almost) replicate the instrumental setup of a previous one, but that only highlights how distinctly each collaborator adds to the proceedings.

Letzte

The title here is “last” (not “fifth”) in German, and for the closing trio Baker brings in Berlin’s Jana Sotzko (Point No Point, others) on drums and Melissa Guion (aka MJ Guider) on guitar/bass/electronics. As you might expect from the rest of the series, that setup does not mean we are about to get anything at all like a conventional power trio. Guion frequently laces Baker and Sotzko’s in-the-room interplay with drifting atmospherics, from the gradual haze of “Erste” to the cavernous echoes of “F��nfte.” The closing title track sends the whole project off with a fuzzy, surging valediction, a fittingly satisfying end for a project that demonstrated significant sonic and emotional range within the various modulations of a deliberately specific format. Maybe Trio Not Trio could have five-not-five entries someday?

Ian Mathers

#aidan baker #trio not trio #gizeh #ian mathers #albumreview #dusted magazine #stacy taylor #john colpitts #sofia salvo #rohan rebeiro #tim wyskida #daron beck #tobias humble #ayami suzuki #jana sotzko #melissa guion #nadja #man forever #mj guider #khanate #ambient #improv #drone

[jonathantaylorthomas]

The couple broke up a few weeks ago after six years of dating, and a source close to the Grammy winner and the Conversations with Friends actor tells PEOPLE the split was largely caused by "differences in their personalities."

"They've had rough patches before and always worked things out, so friends thought they would take some time apart but eventually come back together," says the source, noting that "ultimately" Swift, 33, and Alwyn, 32, "weren't the right fit for one another."

Reps for Swift and Alwyn have not commented on the breakup.

The "Lavender Haze" musician was first publicly linked to the British actor in May 2017, when it was revealed that the pair had been quietly dating for months. Though it's not clear exactly when they met, fans have speculated that Swift and Alwyn first crossed paths at the 2016 Met Gala.

Joe Alwyn, Taylor Swift. Mike Marsland/WireImage, Terry Wyatt/Getty Images

"They had plenty in common and fell in love in a safe bubble while she was retreating from the world during Reputation," adds the source, referring to Swift's 2017 studio album. "Then the pandemic hit, and they were locked down together and able to continue growing their relationship in this insulated way. But he didn't really 'know' her yet outside of that bubble."

Throughout their relationship, the pair kept details of their romance to themselves, demurring on engagement rumors in recent years.

Sources say the pair bonded quickly over shared passions for art and creativity. Indeed, Swift has released 10 songs co-written and/or co-produced with Alwyn, who wrote under the pseudonym William Bowery. The collaborations include six songs on Folklore, three songs on Evermore and "Sweet Nothing" on Midnights.

Still, insiders say the actor — who emphasized his need for privacy when asked about Swift during interviews — didn't like the limelight.

"Joe has struggled with Taylor's level of fame and the attention from the public," says the source. "The differences in their personalities have also become harder to ignore after years together. They've grown apart."

According to multiple sources, Swift and Alwyn had been "talking about marriage as recently as a few months ago."

But at the end of the day, the couple weren't ready for a future together. "Taylor didn't see them working out in the long run," says the insider, who adds that the split happened "recently" and was "not dramatic."

"They are friendly. She doesn't have anything bad to say about Joe," adds the insider. "They just grew apart. Taylor is staying very focused on her tour right now."

Despite the breakup, the source adds, "There is a lot of respect still between them."

Swift is currently performing shows throughout North America on The Eras Tour. A week before news broke of her split from Alwyn, she surprised the audience by swapping out Folklore track "Invisible String," which focuses on two soulmates, with "The 1," a song that instead centers around a lost love and remembering what was once had.

Following her three latest concerts in Arlington, Texas earlier this month, Swift was spotted shooting a music video late last week in Liverpool, England. Her next shows are on April 13, 14 and 15 in Tampa, Florida.

[justforbooks]

The musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, who has died aged 71 of cancer, spent his life as a restless traveller, both personally and musically. “I was born in Japan but I don’t think I’m Japanese,” he said in 1988, two years before he moved to New York. “To be a stranger – I like that attitude. I don’t like nationalities and borders.”

A founder member of Tokyo’s pioneering computer-pop trio Yellow Magic Orchestra, whose work between 1978 and 1984 has proved a lasting influence on hip-hop and electronica, Sakamoto was able to combine his skills as an academically trained musician with an aptitude for electronic music and an ear for countless musical styles. He sustained a lengthy partnership with the British musician David Sylvian after first working with his band Japan on the track Taking Islands in Africa from the album Gentlemen Take Polaroids (1980), following which the duo collaborated on the double A-side Bamboo Houses/Bamboo Music (1982).

In 1983, Sakamoto achieved a peak of commercial visibility by not only writing the soundtrack for Nagisa Oshima’s film Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence, but also co-starring in it (as Captain Yonoi) with David Bowie. The soundtrack, which won him a Bafta for best film music, contained the Sakamoto/Sylvian composition Forbidden Colours, a vocal version of the film’s main theme, which was a Top 20 hit in Britain.

Soundtrack work became one of the main planks of Sakamoto’s career. He won an Academy Award (along with his fellow composers David Byrne and Cong Su) for his soundtrack to Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor (1987), in which he also had an acting role, and worked with the director again on The Sheltering Sky (1990) and Little Buddha (1993).

Sakamoto scored the 1990 film version of The Handmaid’s Tale, Pedro Almodóvar’s Tacones Lejanos (High Heels, 1991), and Brian De Palma’s Snake Eyes (1998) and Femme Fatale (2002). Oliver Stone hired him for the soundtrack to his TV series Wild Palms (1993). Alejandro González Iñárritu used some existing Sakamoto recordings in his 2006 film Babel, then recruited him to write the score for his multiple Oscar-winner The Revenant (2015). For the opening of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics he provided El Mar Mediterrani.

Sakamoto released solo albums regularly between 1978 and 2017, many of them reaching the Top 30 in Japan but not registering on charts elsewhere, as well as six live albums and a string of compilations. However, Sakamoto’s subtle, exploratory music earned him a charismatic reputation that drew international guest stars to his projects.

On B-2 Unit (1980), he collaborated closely with Andy Partridge from XTC, and the electrofunk track Riot in Lagos proved inspirational for the likes of Mantronix and Afrikaa Bambaataa. Thomas Dolby featured on the pulsating Field Work from Illustrated Musical Encyclopedia (1986), the track accompanied by an ingeniously conceived video, while for Neo Geo (1987) Sakamoto enlisted Iggy Pop, Bill Laswell, Bootsy Collins and Sly Dunbar.

Brian Wilson and Robbie Robertson appeared on Beauty (1989), an album that spanned rock, technopop, flamenco and classical Japanese music. Heartbeat (1991), on which Sakamoto tried rap, funk and jazz, and lyrics in French, Japanese and Russian, numbered Youssou N’Dour, Arto Lindsay, Bill Frisell, Sylvian and John Cage among its contributors. In 1993, Sakamoto co-produced Aztec Camera’s album Dreamland.

Born in Tokyo, Ryuichi was the only child of Keiko (nee Shimomura), a hat designer, and Kazuki Sakomoto, a literary editor. While attending the same progressive primary school that once taught Yoko Ono, he was already writing music for the piano with their encouragement.

The American presence in postwar Japan introduced new western influences to the country, and Sakamoto was enraptured by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. He attended Tokyo’s University of the Arts to study music composition, and felt a strong affinity for the compositions of Claude Debussy, in which he discerned an Asian influence. However, in addition he soaked up the work of contemporary composers such as Cage, Pierre Boulez, Györgi Ligeti and Stockhausen, as well as jazz musicians including John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman.

His early compositions were in an avant-garde vein, while he also performed with free jazz bands and played keyboards with the folk singer Masato Tomobe. He graduated with BA and MA degrees, having studied classical and assorted world and ethnic music, and taken his first steps in electronic music by working with Moog and ARP synthesizers.

He formed Yellow Magic Orchestra in 1978 with Haruomi “Harry” Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, whom he had met when they worked together as session musicians. Combining electropop with stylish graphics and costume design, the trio brought wit and warmth to the use of electronics, which contrasted with the studied alienation of European counterparts such as Kraftwerk or Gary Numan.

YMO released eight studio albums during their original lifespan, all of them climbing high in the Japanese charts, and three of them reaching No 1. The group inspired Beatlemania-like hysteria in their homeland. “We were very big, that’s why I hated it,” Sakamoto said. “We were always followed by paparazzi.”

YMO’s albums made little chart impact outside Japan, but their influence was nonetheless widely felt, not least in their innovative use of electronic sequencers, drum machines and sampling. Firecracker, from their 1978 debut album, was itself sampled in Afrika Bambaataa’s Death Mix. In 1980 they had a Top 20 hit in the UK with Computer Game (Theme from the Invaders), which chimed with the craze for the Space Invaders game. Behind the Mask, first conceived for a Seiko wristwatch commercial and then included on their album Solid State Survivor (1979), became a Top 20 UK hit for Eric Clapton; a version by Michael Jackson appeared on the posthumous album Michael (2010).

YMO paused their activities in 1984, though the trio continued to collaborate on each other’s solo work, and they reformed to make the album Technodon (1993). They subsequently reunited several times for recording and live performances, their last shows being for the No Nukes 2012 festival in Chiba, Japan, and the 2012 World Happiness festival in Tokyo.

In his teens in the late 1960s, Sakamoto had been a hippy with leftwing political beliefs – “not 100% Marxist, but kind of” – but he gradually became disillusioned with the failure of political movements to effect significant change. He decided that his music was not the place for social or political messages, observing that “I’ve changed from an avant-garde person to a pop person,” though he would subsequently support causes he felt strongly about.

He campaigned for changes to music copyright law, which he considered outmoded in the internet era, and founded Commmons, a collaborative platform to assist aspiring musicians. He formed a group of musicians called NML (No More Landmines), which featured Brian Eno, Sylvian, Kraftwerk and the other members of YMO, and in 2001 they released the single Zero Landmine.

In 2006 he launched the Stop Rokkasho movement by releasing the track Rokkasho (by a group of musicians dubbed Team 6), in protest at the building of Japan’s Rokkasho nuclear fuel reprocessing plant, and he campaigned to have the Hamaoka nuclear plant shut down to avoid a repeat of the 2011 tsunami disaster at the Fukushima facility. He and Byrne teamed up to record the single Psychedelic Afternoon to aid tsunami survivors.

His solo work continued to explore a huge variety of styles. In 1982 he had ventured into medieval and Renaissance music on the album The End of Asia, a collaboration with the Japanese early music group Danceries. Smoochy (1995) was a detour into easy listening, while Discord (1998) comprised an hour-long orchestral composition.

The album 1996 was a selection of Sakamoto pieces arranged for piano trio featuring the Brazilian cellist Jaques Morelenbaum, and Sakomoto reunited with him and his wife, Paula, a singer, for two albums in celebration of the bossa nova composer Antônio Carlos Jobim, Casa (2001) and A Day in New York (2003). In 1999, his multimedia opera, Life, was performed in Tokyo and Osaka.

Meanwhile, he struck up a fruitful collaboration with Alva Noto (a pseudonym of Carston Nicolai), which resulted in a string of electronica albums including Vrioon (2002) and Insen (2005), culminating in Glass (2018). With the Austrian guitarist and composer Christian Fennesz he recorded Sala Santa Cecilia (2005), Cendre (2007) and Flumina (2011).

In 2014 he was diagnosed with throat cancer, but by the following year was feeling “much much better”. His recovery from illness inspired the creation of his last solo album, Async, hailed as one of 2017’s finest forays into experimental electronica. Its making was documented by Stephen Nomura Schible in the film Coda (2018).

His final album, 12, was recorded during hospital stays in 2021 and 2022, and released in January. In December, he livestreamed a solo piano concert from Tokyo.

Sakamoto was first married to Natsuko, then to the musician Akiko Yano; both marriages ended in divorce. He is survived by his third wife and manager, Norika Sora, and their two children; and a daughter from his first marriage and another daughter from his second.

🔔 Ryuichi Sakamoto, composer, musician and producer, born 17 January 1952; died 28 March 2023

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at http://justforbooks.tumblr.com

#JUST FOR BOOKS #Ryuichi Sakamoto #in memoriam

[btshoseong]

👣. !!: HOSEONG WITH OTHER IDOLS ‧₊˚

⊂ HOSEONG ✶ YEONJUN ⊃

HOSEONG HAS known yeonjun since early on in his debut, when the younger was still a trainee. he would often catch yeonjun around the company building, sometimes practicing late into the night for monthly evaluations and would give him pointers, helping him earn the legendary trainee title.

THEY CLICKED really well, exuding similar energy, and so they would even spend time together outside of work and training for lunch. hoseong was the first to congratulate yeonjun and his members for later debuting as txt and they continue to tease each other in their videos too.

⊂ HOSEONG ✶ KAI ⊃

HOSEONG AND KAI met when kai reached out for an ask to collaborate for his upcoming 1st mini album at the time. they spent a lot of days hauled up in the studio because of this, getting to know each other between breaks as they experimented with new sounds for the track.

IT WAS A LITTLE inevitable that they would become good friends. after the song recording, the two also had to shoot the mv for the song and learn a choreo, finding themselves comfortable enough to throw jokes and pull light pranks throughout the duration of filming before armys and exo-ls came to notice the two had followed each other on instagram.

⊂ HOSEONG ✶ EUNWOO ⊃

EUNWOO AND HOSEONG MET at one of jackson wang’s parties. it was the first time for eunwoo to be feeling a little out of place with so many other idols there, which is when hoseong noticed him and headed over for a chat. he helped to loosen eunwoo’s nerves on that day, making the night a joyous memory for the both of them.

AFTER EXCHANGING NUMBERS, the two promised to stay in touch. and they did. they became very close friends, supporting each other and counting on one another through thick and thin. eunwoo even helped hoseong through a fight with jimin once, a tough time that he couldn’t have gotten past without a close friend by his side.

⊂ HOSEONG ✶ BOBBY ⊃

HOSEONG, who although may not be a full time rapper, still holds an unrivalled love for hip hop, and this is how he met bobby. the duo met at a hip hop event in seoul, something which hoseong had come to watch. bobby was familiar with hoseong, had heard some of bangtan’s music but was curious about why the male was here so the two got talking.

IT WAS RIGHT off the bat that the two found common ground. bobby was impressed with hoseong’s knowledge about the genre and they exchanged numbers after talking some more. it was only a while later from then that bobby reached out for a collab. it was one of hoseong’s first times rapping a full verse on a track and the project helped to solidify their friendship to the fullest.

⊂ HOSEONG ✶ HONOURABLE MENTIONS ⊃

hoshi jinyoung dawn jooheon

💬 — HOSEONG’S TAGLIST.

@pandorasword

#( 🩻 ) ───── hoseong’s relationships ! #bts 8th member #bts 8th male member #kpop added member #kpop added male member #kpop addition #kpop male addition #kpop additional member #kpop additional male member #bts additional member #bts additional male member #bts added member #bts added male member #kpop member au #kpop male member au #kpop oc #kpop male oc #bts oc #bts male oc #bts addition #bts male addition

[bananaofswifts]

BY MIKAEL WOOD

Taylor Swift’s pin-sharp new album, “Midnights,” closes with a song in which the pop superstar patiently explains to someone — perhaps many millions of someones — that their intimate relationship wasn’t a product of kismet but of design.

“I laid the groundwork,” she sings over a blippy electronic groove, her voice edging slightly ahead of the beat, “and then just like clockwork the dominoes cascaded in a line.” The tune is called “Mastermind,” which is what Swift calls herself in the chorus, neatly rhyming the word with “now you’re mine.” And plenty of its characteristic detail can make you think she’s describing a romance. But “Mastermind” is also about Swift’s one-of-a-kind career — about the deliberation and the ingenuity of the moves that took the 32-year-old from being a teenage country phenom to being one of the two or three biggest acts in all of music.

“No one wanted to play with me as a little kid,” she sings near the end of “Mastermind,” which might be the saddest and funniest line on an LP teeming with both kinds, “so I’ve been scheming like a criminal ever since to make them love me and make it seem effortless.” (Take a second to savor the intricate rhythm of those words before you’ve even heard them set to music.)

Pondering the delights and the anxieties of her own celebrity has been a hallmark of Swift’s work for years — or at least it was until 2020, when she set aside much of the autobiographical life-of-a-pop-star stuff for the ostensibly fictional character-driven narratives of her twin pandemic albums, “Folklore” and “Evermore.” Full of songs about small-town grifters and awkward high-school kids and unhappily married people — even a murderer — those projects also radically recast her sound, veering away from the synthed-up productions that sent her up the Hot 100 toward a rootsy, mostly acoustic vibe she formulated with Aaron Dessner of the indie-rock band the National.

Swift suggested that the isolation of the pandemic had set her imagination free; certainly, the music’s smaller scale reflected the demands of remote collaboration. Yet “Midnights,” her 10th studio full-length, returns to an earlier Swift mode in both sonic and lyrical terms: This 13-track set, which she produced with her longtime creative partner Jack Antonoff, feels like it picks up right where 2014’s “1989” and 2017’s “Reputation” left off, with slick, beat-heavy arrangements that seem dimly aware of hip-hop’s existence and with lyrics peppered with juicy allusions to Swift’s various high-profile feuds and love affairs. (“Lover,” from 2019, plays even more now than it did then like a transitional effort between phases of Swift’s career.)

It’s easy in a sense to understand why she took this approach, given that she spent 2021 rerecording her albums “Fearless” and “Red” as part of a plan to create new versions of the LPs she lost partial control of when her old record label changed hands. As meticulous a diarist as pop has ever known, Swift has clearly been thinking — thinking more than usual — about her journey and about her younger selves; “Nothing New,” one of many freshly recorded outtakes she included on “Red (Taylor’s Version),” captures a woman in her 30s confronting her 20-something suspicions about how her chosen industry would treat her as she aged out of ingénue-hood.

“Midnights” opens with the steamy, R&B-adjacent “Lavender Haze,” in which Swift laments the scrutiny she’s under as a famous person dating another famous person (in her case, the English actor Joe Alwyn); the song — co-written by and featuring background vocals from the actress Zoë Kravitz — seeks a safe space removed from a realm where her loose talk threatens to “go viral,” as she puts it. In “Anti-Hero,” over Antonoff’s buzzing synths and booming ’80s-rock drums, she weighs the public’s harshest opinions of her, copping to a “covert narcissism” and admitting that sometimes she feels like “a monster on the hill … slowly lurching toward your favorite city.”

The vicious and shimmering “Karma” seemingly takes aim at the powerful music executive Scooter Braun, who engineered the label purchase that spawned Swift’s rerecording enterprise: “Spiderboy, king of thieves / Weave your little webs of opacity,” she sings — heed the conspicuous “S” and “B” in “Spiderboy” — before describing what she views as her cosmic advantage with a series of vivid metaphors: “Karma is my boyfriend / Karma is a god / Karma is the breeze in my hair on the weekend.” The breeze in her hair on the weekend! Good night, Spiderboy.

Swift’s storytelling impulse isn’t dead on “Midnights,” which she’s said grew out of her bent toward wee-hours contemplation. “Midnight Rain,” a slow and woozy number with pitch-shifted vocals, narrates a tale of a guy and a girl with differing life goals, neither of whom appear to be Swift or Alwyn; ditto “Maroon,” in which the guy and girl get drunk off her roommate’s “cheap-ass screw-top rosé.” Then there’s the pulpy, Billie Eilish-ish “Vigilante S—,” about a woman who helps a betrayed wife get revenge on her dirtbag husband.

Yet the songwriting and the vocal performances here are so strong — she’s playing with cadence and emphasizing the grain of her voice like never before — that eventually you stop caring what’s drawn directly from Swift’s real life and what’s not. It’s just a pleasure to get lost in tunes like “Labyrinth,” in which the singer explores her fear of falling in love again, and “Snow on the Beach,” a gorgeous duet with Lana Del Rey with some of the album’s most affecting imagery: “My smile is like I won a contest,” Swift sings in regards to a surprising new fling, and that’s all you need to conjure the precise picture in your head.

She paints another indelible picture in “Mastermind,” referring to herself as “the wind in our free-flowing sails” just after she offers a bit of context for why she’s been so thoroughgoing in her interactions with her boyfriend (or her audience). “All the wisest women had to do it this way ’cause we were born to be the pawn in every lover’s game,” she sings. Then she takes a breath and adds: “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” Only Swift could make a self-help slogan sound like a fairy tale.

#taylor swift #midnights #review

[zzoguri]

moni's masterlist ➵ the boyz

✰ - personal favorite | ✧ - audience’s favorite

current works

lee sangyeon ➵ here’s much to do with hate, but more with love ✧

when you land the lead role for your university’s upcoming play, you expect your scene partner to be your best friend, lee hyunjae. but when your eyes discover a different lee beside romeo montague’s, you’re certain that the universe is not on your side. (enemies to lovers, suggestive, university/theater au)

jacob bae ➵ of guitar strings and peeled tangerines (i’ll bruise my fingers just for you) [series masterlist] ✰

when you are unable to continue living in the city, you are forced to move back to the small provincial town you begged to stay away from. but when you come face-to-face with the reliable village co-chief, jacob bae, you learn that your stay won’t be so pleasant after all. (childhood friends to bickering strangers to lovers, angst, explores themes of grief, forgiveness, & childhood trauma)

➵ satin ✰

the pink ribbons that you and your daughter used to dress up jacob now used on you. (smut, fluff)

➵ safe haven (how much longer do we have?) ✰

you can only hope for more tomorrows with jacob. (strangers to lovers, heavy angst with a happy ending, apocalypse au)

➵ somehow, i’ll gather the stars just for you

even in the nights where the stars refuse to show themselves, jacob will round them up just for you. (fluff, hurt/comfort)

➵ with every storm, i have you.

no matter what you may bring, jacob will choose to stay. (angst, fluff, hurt/comfort)

lee hyunjae ➵ here’s much to do with hate, but more with love ✧

when you land the lead role for your university’s upcoming play, you expect your scene partner to be your best friend, lee hyunjae. but when your eyes discover a different lee beside romeo montague’s, you’re certain that the universe is not on your side. (friends to sort-of lovers, suggestive, university/theater au)

lee juyeon ➵ persist and resist (but still, fail)

all it takes is one phone call for you to realize what you could’ve had with juyeon. (angst, almost lovers, inpsired by "the 1" by taylor swift)

ji changmin ➵ finger trapped (ripped to its seams) ✰

with an unexpected reunion, you and changmin relive the memories of cheongju—and confront what could’ve been between you two. (almost lovers, angst, explores parental issues, inspired by “seasons” by wave to earth)

➵ of linked arms and bruised hearts (you are the reason i keep on going) [series masterlist] ✰

you and changmin have been best friends since high school, having seen each other at their best and worst. now in your second year of university, you are given the opportunity to work with the unattainable 5th-year you have had a crush on since—jacob bae. with your best friend on the receiving end of your rambles, you could only hope for something to come out of your time working with jacob. that is until changmin decides he wants something more out of his relationship with you. (f2l, slow burn, explores the importance of platonic love)

➵ on the drive home

the three times changmin thought you two would be okay, and the one drive home that made him realize he was wrong. (angst no happy ending, requested, inspired by “on the drive home” by niki)

➵ somebody

you needed somebody to give you what you crave. will you allow changmin to be that for you? (smut, requested, inspired by “somebody” by keshi)

kim sunwoo ➵ familiarity (it's all sticky) ✰

you’re not sure why you decide to show up at your ex’s place all wounded up from tonight’s battle. (exes to sort-of lovers, ghost-spider au, hurt/comfort)

➵ of boundaries and secret glances (i'm lucky to be loved by you) [teaser] [one] [two]

as a well-respected independent producer in the industry, you get requests from different companies for collaborations. when you accept to work on chanhee and sunwoo's unit track for their upcoming album, you are left to your own devices as you work closely with sunwoo. who is to say what can happen over the days? (strangers to lovers, idol au, explores the mistreatment in the kpop industry)

➵ the perfect pair [series masterlist]

being a woman in the esports league is hard, but dealing with cocky kim sunwoo is unmatched. with the valorant champions tour about to commence, you two are forced to team up to retrieve the trophy. what will be tested—team morale or your patience around sunwoo? (enemies to lovers, angst, fluff, smut, esports au, explores misogyny im video games and esports league)

➵ surrender to me ✧

you despise everything about him—detached, shy, a blind follower. if anything, being in the same room as him infuriates you. so how did a leader like you end up in this mess with him? (smut, fuck buddies au)

eric sohn ➵ first to know you, first to love you ✧

all you should care about is graduating with flying colors, so why are you starting to care about your seatmate? (strangers to friends to lovers, fluff, requested, inspired by “valentine” by laufey)

➵ serene (it’s what i hope for me) ✰

you should’ve known that eric wouldn’t be the one. (angst no happy ending, exes au, inspired by “california and me” by laufey)

more coming soon...

➵ other masterlists

wips

lee sangyeon ➵ burning at the center of the universe [coming soon]

you will never be the special companion. no matter how much you long to stay with the doctor, he will always leave as quickly as he came. all you can hope is that you left your mark as much as he did with yours—and you'll never know how much you truly meant to him. (doctor who au [won't be heavy on it!], angst no happy ending)

ji changmin ➵ finger trapped (ripped to its seams) [coming soon]

with an unexpected reunion, you and changmin relive the memories of cheongju—and confront what could’ve been between you two. (almost lovers, angst, based on seasons by wave to earth)

kim sunwoo

➵ untitled [coming soon]

summer to you is meant for everything casual—hookups to short-lived romances. when a new boy shows up at the beach, you are determined to have fun with him. unbeknownst to you, he is set on changing your mind. (s2l, summer love au, ton of suggestive content)

eric sohn

➵ crossing boundaries (i’m already yours) [coming soon]

the five times where the boundaries were blurred with eric and the one time where it became crystal clear. (situationship, fluff, angst)

#works of moni #the boyz