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#because the whole bollywood thing
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Can't believe I just watched a Bengali movie where a gay man and a woman settled together in what essentially boils down to a queerplatonic marriage
What a world.
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theteamstark · 2 years
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honestly im kind of in love with the brahmastra trailer
the effects look amazing, the dramatics look so cool and amitabh bachchan looks so fantastic and his voice sounds so powerful as ever
the whole kaun ho tum and kya ho tum was a bit much but im excited!
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worstloki · 2 years
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I'm the Asia/South Asia anon and I honestly did not thing it would result in everyone asking where you're from. I realize I shouldn't have asked that but I guess I just wanted to know if we're from the same region cuz I really love you and you've got numerous South Asian references here and usually unless people aren't from this area, they generally don't seem to know anything accurate about us. I though Asia was big enough that there won't be a risk, but that's no excuse, and I'm very sorry.
oh, no worries!!!! don't feel bad about it, I simply wouldn't have answered if it was an issue!! I tend to dabble and try not to speak of places and topics I don't know decent information about so I'm glad it doesn't come off as inaccurate!!
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nowisthewinter · 10 months
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And to think the animated movie version of Nimona was almost this close to being shelved if Netflix had not picked it up.
Yes, it’s good. It’s very good. I’ll let other people talk about the plot points, the characters and the pretty nifty soundtrack. (Santogold? Yes, please.) 
I am here to talk about the animation.
Watching this movie made me realize what I don’t like about Pixar movies lately. Yes, Pixar’s the king of realism. And, yes, Nimona is way more design simple compared to Pixar. But the one thing Nimona has over Pixar is how the characters move. 
Pixar characters don’t really move. Yes, they walk. Yes, they gesture. Yes, they will do things.
But they don’t “act.”
For example, there are many parts of Nimona where you could turn off the sound and still follow the story like it was a silent movie of old. The characters’ body language and facial language tell a story on their own. They fill up a whole screen with their mannerisms. This is Buster Keaton. This is Charlie Chaplin. This is Harold Llyod. 
You don’t really get that with Pixar. And while that was fine years ago because everyone was striving for realism and Pixar was showing everyone how to animate hair, now, it’s.....boring. 
Realism isn’t the end goal anymore. It’s a one trick pony that really should be out to pasture. Now people want to see what else you can do with animation. Spider-man: Across the Spider-verse showed that there are a wide range of styles you can pull from. Even taking ideas from Impressionism, Modern pop art (Check out Jean-Michel Bisquiat) and commercial art (See Bollywood film posters for example). Nimona is now showing how much acting range you can get from their animation. I’ve already watched it twice. Once for the story. The other just to watch the characters “act.” I’ll probably watch it a few more times because that animation, THAT ANIMATION!
I want more of that. Take notes, Pixar. 
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famemonsterrr · 10 months
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Astrology observations part 5. 🪽
- Aquarius placements make someone soo smart ass and witty. Especially mercury 🤌🏻
- Gemini and Sagittarius are the type of people who will be killed by curiosity.
- 11th house placements make someone really popular and well known even if they don’t hang out with everyone. Same goes with the 3rd house placements maybe because of your siblings
- Pisces sun with Capricorn Venus is the most random and sad placement in a natal chart.
- Gemini sun with cancer placements are softies and more sensitive than all gemini placements
Men with all gemini in the personal planets is a red flag. Immature and easily influenced
- people with 4th house Venus will want their home to be comfortable and keep memories from their family house. You will see a lot of childhood pics on the walls or maybe a lot of photo albums.
- i love how passive aggressive a cancer can be. Like they are soooo unserious in serious situations. They will piss you off.
- it might be unpopular but the sister sign is a big fat lie. I have seen couples and friends with the sister signs not lasting long. For example every friendship I have a Virgo was good of 1 year and then became toxic.
- Pisces with 8th house placements or Scorpio placements is the person that will have temporary obsessions. Maybe they will find a song and play it for months and then will find a new song and then again. Maybe it would be a crush,maybe a movie character.
- Gemini and Sagittarius placements love cultures and they know a lot of things about them.(My mom is Gemini sun with Sagittarius moon and when I was young she showed me a lot of cultures. One random day she mention how much interesting Bollywood is and bought some dvds and we watched them together. Also had a lot of Arabic cds and we love to listen together and thanks to her my love for cultures became huge)
- i love LEO a lot but having it in your moon is pain in the ass. DRAMA QUEEN but I applause you for being open and expressive with what u feeling. Vulnerable queen💅🏻 but high maintenance moon. Constant admiration and attention.
- Pisces moon/rising people have dead inside eyes as for the other placements I can’t see it. (I’m Pisces sun and Venus and I don’t have this type of eyes)
- air moons scare me. You don’t know how they feel and what they feel. They are just there breathing and existing and inside their head their tiny version maybe burning the whole place💀 (SpongeBob brain scene if u know u know what I’m saying)
- I kinda feel bad for all my Scorpio moon people. Are you okay? ☹️
- Aquarius and Pisces will say things to get a reaction out of everyone. I have seen myself doing that just because I want to annoy them. I don’t believe half of the things I’m saying but I will do it to get a reaction for fun. Also 7th house placements do that.
- earth suns with Sagittarius placements make them super fun and cool. (My bestie is Capricorn with Sagittarius moon and she is so fun and witty)
- have you seen a Pisces sticking into anything? No me neither these bitches changing everything when they getting bored. It’s a mutable thingy ✨
- libra mercury is the devils advocate. ALWAYS
- never date someone who has the same mars sign as ur moon. Unless u want PAIN💅🏻
- always date someone who has the same Venus as ur sun. They will see you as their ideal type vice versa.
- Virgo women love cleaning and organising and Capricorn men love cleaning and organising. Match in heaven? 😏
- just to know the biggest liars are libra and Leo not Gemini.
- Pisces aren’t competitive at all they even let you win. They just don’t care (that’s me unless I’m playing uno) also really unpopular but Aries aren’t that competitive.
- Aquarius love internet friendships because they can have their space and not meet all the time with people.
- Taurus are more obsessive than a Scorpio. (I had a dude who said to me that he was stalking his ex for 3 years straight. It’s the dedication for me💀)
Speaking of these two. THEY ALWAYS BELONG TOGETHER. both insane and obsessed over each other in relationship. Maybe not the best of friends but everything is possible
- I haven’t see Gemini and Pisces be able to concentrate for more than 10 min.
- this is a personal thing to say but as a Pisces I tend to connect people with colours,smells ect. (One of my besties is white and always imagine her as cotton candy.) also I tend to bring in any conversation my closest people. I just love to mention them anywhere I can. If any Pisces reads this please tell I ain’t the one.
- libra sun with Virgo placements is a person with perfectionism and anxiety.
- fixed dominated individuals are like Patrick’s house. Like big rocks 💀
- cardinal dominated individuals need to learn manange their hidden anger issues
- mutable dominated individuals need to learn to end things they started 😒
Thats all 🪽
Okay guys this one was loooong. Sometimes I have a lot of ideas in my head and I get stimulated so thank u for making it till the end. Appreciate it sooo much 🥰 stay healthy and hydrated 💅🏻
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hotvintagepoll · 11 days
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Propaganda
Julie Andrews (The Sound of Music, Mary Poppins)—Oh where to start .... I'm not sure I even know how. She's just perfection. And it's not fair I can't bring post 70s work into this, because she just gets better and better, and her drag performance in to die for. But in the era I CAN talk about, she shows she has THE RANGE. Beautiful, feisty, funny, holding her own against Christopher Plummer, Paul Newman, Rock Hudson. Oh she's luminous.
Nadira (Shree 420, Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai)— She had a blast playing the femme fatal in Indian films in the 50s. Also the costumes she wore in Shree 420 are absolutely iconic. It's important to mention that she was Jewish. She was born Farhad "Florence" Ezekiel in Baghdad to an Iraqi Jewish family. They moved to India sometime in the 1940s. The funny thing is that she originally wanted to convert to Catholicism and become a nun but joined the film industry instead as her family desperately needed money. Even though she was unfortunately typecast in femme fatale roles after playing the nightclub entertainer Maya in Shree 420, she always gave 110% to every role she was cast in. Apparently she acted in a German film as well? She was also one of the most highly paid actresses in the Indian film industry and was one of the few Indians to own a Rolls Royce.
This is round 3 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.
[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]
Julie Andrews propaganda:
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"She has such a simple but amazing beauty to her. Not to mention her amazing and melodic singing voice!"
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"Roles like nannies and governesses can make us forget how attractive she was! A perfect combination of elegant and adorable, with the most incredible vocal range to boot!"
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"Besides having one of the most amazing singing voices ever to grace the silver screen, Julie always had an understated beauty to her that wasn't always shown off on screen. But it's there nonetheless because her characters managed to pull some of the hottest men ever to grace the screen."
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"The juxtaposition between carefree Maria and stern but fun Mary Poppins shows the power of the acting of this HOT VINTAGE MOVIE WOMAN"
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"Charming, genteel, incredibly charismatic, beautiful, and has an angelic singing voice to boot. Her screen roles as Maria in The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins are absolutely iconic for a reason and she originated several well-known Broadway roles before those."
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"the most beautiful woman 12 year old me had ever seen possibly"
"OMG OMG OMG she’s definitely been submitted before how could she NOT but!!!! I loveeee her so muchhhh rahhhh prebby!!!! cool!!!! mary poppins the beloved <33333 some people dislike it but I love jolly holiday so much because it IS a jolly holiday with Mary!!! no wonder that it’s Mary that we love!!!!!"
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"I know many people who were taught in singing lessons "when in doubt, pronounce words how julie andrews would pronounce them." THATS CALLED INFLUENCE. THATS CALLED MOTHERING THOUSANDS."
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Nadira:
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I just submitted a whole list of golden-era Bollywood stars without whom I thought this tournament could not conscionably be considered complete BUT Nadira has got my personal vote for Hottest of the lot. She played a bunch of delicious vamp roles in her youth before graduating to being a creepy spiderlady antagonist type in middle/older age. Rare is the still in which she looks like she's NOT about to gnaw your face off. Yow!
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i-cant-sing · 19 days
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Oh man, there's just something about weddings- no matter what religion/country, that each have their certain features that is just oh so endearing and I'd just love to have it all😭
Okay, so take Hindu weddings. There's a lot of things to love, but my fav? The sindoor, because it's just so so intimate and like- some people say that if some of that red powder falls on your nose, it means that your husband loves you very much 😭😭😭😭 oh not to mention, I saw some guy touching his forehead with his brides to apply the sindoor and I just- 🫠
Then take Muslim weddings, and like yes, indo obviously love the whole "mehr" thing, but it's always so adorable to see what the bride asks for her mehr (which is often money, but not always. Some brides ask for a kitten, a trip, or even a verse from Quran)🩷🩷🩷 and also the first halal hug- oh its just so heartwarming to see the way the groom embraces his bride in his arms with the utmost carr, maybe a peck on the forehead if they're into PDA.
And then there's catholic weddings, where they do the vows- "in sickness and in health" omg😭 and and the bride wearing something "blue, borrowed" etc that's cute too- BUT ALSO THE "ANYONE HAS ANY OBJECTIONS?" omg I would die if some (handsome and wanted) guy did actually object to my matrimony.
But apart from religious weddings, I also love everyone's traditions- I saw a video of Hunza people in Pakistan, where the couple make rotis (bread) together to signify the bond of their relationship- teamwork.
I know some of u guys would LOVE this- in Roma weddings, the guy kidnaps the girl of his liking (as far as I know, the guy already has the blessings and permission from the girl's parents) and then after negotiations, a wedding happens.
*gasps* I JUST REMEMBERED when I was little I used to watch Indian soap dramas and I was so jealous when I found out that not everyone does that ceremony where there's a bowl of milk with rose petals in it, and they drop a ring in it for the bride and groom to find and whoever finds it first, will mean that that person will be more dominant in the relationship- and EVERY SINGKE TIME THE GUY WOULD FIND THE RING FIRST BUT DISCREETLY PASS IT TO HIS WIFE SO THAT SHE COULD BE THE WINNER ONGGGGG
And then the Arab countries just practically frowning the bride in gold and money... I like that very much.
Wait omg I remember that Pakistanis have these GRAND welcome for the new bride in their home. I mean, first the groom brings her home in a fancy car or something, then the entire house is lit up with fairy lights and then they do FIREWORKS 😭😭
And in Indian, Pakistani, Bengali weddings, there's the henna tattoo ceremonies, and I love that so much, maybe because I grew up watching bollywood and desi shows, so I'm just gonna say they have amazing weddings.
*sniffle* I get it- I get why women dream of their weddings all their life.
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venusbby · 11 months
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LOVE!! I SAW YOUR JHUMKA RIN DRABBLE AND OMG IM IN LOVE!! WE NEED MORE SOUTH ASAIN REP, PLEASE YOU’RE SO GOOD AT IT.
How about the blue lock boys seeing you in a saree or lengha for the first time?? Like all dolled up and shit ❤️‍🔥
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➝ characters ♡ // itoshi sae, itoshi rin, mikage reo x desi!fem!reader (seperate ofc)
➝ warnings: kinda suggestive for sae's part (makeout session). rin makes reader sit on his lap, reo is a whole tease who's probably watched a bollywood movie and written some things down right before this happens.
note: THANKYOU SM for this 😕 this is actually kinda bad i think but idk ahdhsjndjd have it (cries) also im sorry if there's any typos im too tired to proofread it </3
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ITOSHI SAE 。⁠.゚+ ?¿
he can't even comprehend it at first
lowkey going insane
extra touchy because wtf why are u so hot ? why do u look so good in every single traditional thing u wear ?
good lord. this man is whipped for you im sorry but he's going feral
standing in the living room while you're walking over to him in that red saree, the sound of your heels against the floor and the way your bangles shimmer around your wrists as you adjust your pleats, he feels his entire body almost lose its balance.
with the way your body moves with so much confidence in your traditional clothes, he doesn't understand why you're frowning with an anxious edge to your voice as you speak, his eyes fixed on your subtle pout. "is this too much? be honest."
too much? be honest?
sae was dying to be honest— to tell you just how much you're driving him crazy and it hasn't even been a minute since you came out of the bedroom, but it would lead to something that would make you miss your dinner with your friends and make your efforts to put on that beautiful saree go to waste because he was already dreaming of having himself completely stained with that same red on your lips.
"you look just fine."
really? just fine? you looked more than just fine. he wasn't fine.
your eyes still twinkle with that uncertainty and he slowly takes a step further until his slightly shaky hands can finally hold your hips. his eyes keep on darting from your eyes to your lips and it's making your cheeks flush with heat. "i just don't know, it's been so long since i wore a saree and—"
"stop. kiss me."
"what?"
he takes a deep breath. "kiss me, right now."
your lips curve into a shy smile then as you stare at him with that look. that look. your cherry red lips. he can't handle it anymore. his arm desperately reaches around you until he's pressed against your front with that same red all over his mouth as you share the heated kiss he'd wanted ever since he saw you minutes ago. he feels hot everywhere. this isn't good.
but it's so good.
he knows you're running late for your dinner— but he doesn't care. he doesn't want to care. his fingers trace circles over the soft skin of your waist, and he's not sure how to pick you up when you're in a saree so he settles on just gently pushing you against the closest wall as you stumble just a bit in your heels and let him kiss you with all that he has. the sound of your bangles rings right next to his ears as you tug at his hair and gasp at the way his fingers caress your bare sides.
"you look absolutely stunning," he whispers against your lips breathlessly when he stops kissing you. his forehead presses against yours, your thumb slowly reaching lower to rub the red shade away from his mouth as you breathe heavily and giggle— but it's of no use because he's going to kiss you again anyway. "and i want you all to myself right now. so call your friends and tell them to wait, yeah?"
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ITOSHI RIN 。⁠.゚⁠+ ?!
his brain short circuits tbh
he won't stop staring and drooling (internally)
please fix this boy with a kiss or two or maybe just tease him further who cares he's at your mercy now
"you never told me you had a saree."
"ah, i forgot about it too! do you remember my cousin who visited from home a few months ago?" you speak softly as you grab another safety pin from your little box and hold it casually between your teeth, adjusting the pallu over your shoulder so it's just right as you stare in the mirror. "she gifted me this."
you feel his eyes burn into your back as you attentively pin the layers of material over your shoulder so that your pallu stays in place throughout the night. you frown a bit, glancing back at where he's sitting on the edge of the bed. "are you okay?"
he blinks twice and notices he's been biting his lip the whole time. "yes."
you nod, humming as you continue to do some touch ups. it had been a while since you wore a saree, so its not too surprising that you're not used to handling it too well. it's why you've pinned the material at most places so you don't have to take care of it too much, thanks to the tips you remember from back home.
and just once you're finished, you finally turn around with a satisfied sigh, grinning as you give him a pose, your right hand resting on your waist as you let your pallu drape over your left arm. "i'm finally done. god, it's been such a long time since i wore a saree. does it look okay?"
he blinks again, mouth opening and closing as he tries to find the right word. his gaze doesn't shift away from you. the material of your light colored saree is quite transparent, he notices. he wishes instantly that he didn't notice because it makes him feel even more attracted to you— and it suddenly gets really difficult to keep his hands to himself. he clutches the sheets under him as you walk over.
beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, the word echoes in his mind.
but he can't say it for some reason. his face feels hotter when you come and stand in front of him, and it's so hard to tear his eyes away from your visible stomach but he still does it anyway, turquoise eyes staring up at you as you raise an eyebrow at him expectantly. it's not like it's a new thing to him to see your stomach— crop tops existed. but seeing you in something that plays a role in your culture, and seeing you look absolutely breathtaking in it almost makes your boyfriend melt.
"you look beautiful." he manages to speak, still too afraid to touch you as if this saree just made you so much more valuable. so much more delicate. so much more powerful too, because he doubts he can handle any more of your beauty if he keeps staring.
you chuckle at his state, before leaning down to kiss his forehead. it's when he takes the chance and pulls you down to sit sideways on his lap, face still a little flushed, but a glint of adoration in his eyes as he pecks your cheek in return softly, his hand snaking around from behind you completely, slipping under your pallu as his warm palm gently rests on your stomach, making butterflies erupt throughout you as you lean closer to him.
"baby, you know i have to go." you grin as you talk just above a whisper, index finger tracing his lips slowly. rin knew just the right way to tempt you.
"i know." he says, but his tone is enough to tell you he clearly doesn't care.
"rin." you say in a slightly stern tone. however, the smile on your face doesn't leave.
but after you say his name like that, he's kissing your lips already, tasting the sweet and expensive lipstick on you as he holds you flush against him. his other hand carefully pushes your loose strands of hair behind your ear as he slowly holds your chin right after, mumbling quietly in the middle of his gentle kiss, "five more minutes, pretty. you look too good like this for me to let you go so soon."
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MIKAGE REO 。⁠.゚⁠+
he's gonna wife you up right there
gets you an expensive lehnga from india for your friend's desi wedding
how did he get a connection there? who fucking knows. all that matters is that his woman gets to look gorgeous in her traditional clothes
purposely making you cringe is his new favourite thing
"i knew that color would look good on you." he says as he opens the car door for you, a low whistle following as you step out carefully with your hand tight in his.
"i still can't believe this, reo." you shake your head as you start walking to the entrance of the restaurant, his hand now on your lower back as he quickly nods back at the driver and guides you forward— your lips twitching in a pathetic attempt to hold back a smile when you feel several eyes on you already.
"anything for you, i've told you this a hundred times, baby."
"yeah, but a lehnga? and this expensive?" you chuckle, looking at him as if he'd grown three heads as you both continue to walk. "where did that thought even come from?"
"your cousin once sent me a picture of you wearing one from a few years ago. i'm gonna be honest, you looked really sexy." he shrugs, earning a light slap to his shoulder as he starts to laugh. "and i thought, why not?"
you can't help but feel warmth rising up your cheeks, and you're so glad your cheeks aren't red. you look down as you walk, to make sure you aren't stepping on your long skirt as you hold it up just a little.
he notices that and the smirk on his face makes you feel too much at once.
"want me to carry you? like they do in—"
"baby, please don't." you shake your head as you laugh, walking faster once you see your friends standing right at the entrance of the big venue, leaving him behind in an attempt to hide your embarrassment and your flustered face.
but you don't make it that far and soon you feel his hand around your wrist. your eyes widen as you gasp and get pulled behind in one swift movement, your heavy outfit making you sway without balance and you instantly rest your other hand on his chest to make sure you don't crash into him when he pulls you in. he wraps his arm around your waist to keep you close, smiling innocently as you glare.
"i think this is where they start playing the lovey-dovey background music now. should we kiss?"
you can't stop yourself and you rest your forehead on his shoulder as you laugh loudly. "you're insane."
"insane for you." he winks, puckering his lips lightly as you continue to laugh from cringing so much. he was obviously playing around to tease you, and it was working.
however, you finally give in after a few moments as you press your lips on his in a sweet, chaste kiss— your face warm when reo's hand squeezes your side and his fingers trace over your curves ever so lightly, making goosebumps rise on your skin.
once you pull away, you notice he's more sincere now as he whispers softly, eyes not leaving yours. "you look amazing, y/n. from head to toe, everything about you tonight is even more breathtaking."
now that he's less playful, it means much more to you than it did before. "thank you." you whisper back, the gentle smile on your face changing into a smirk as you suddenly pull him closer by the collar of his suit so that he's resting his forehead against yours. his breath hitches just a bit when you look at him like that. your shimmering lehnga is mesmerizing enough— but your eyes have his knees going weak as he lets out a soft breath and his lips capture yours again.
your hands go up to his shoulders to squeeze as he now uses both of his arms to strongly hold you close to him and he tugs at your bottom lip gently. a few seconds pass and you hear your friends laugh from a distance, your eyebrows furrowing in confusion as you still continue the kiss but then it starts; the lovey-dovey background music from the inside of the open venue, which makes reo let out an amused huff of air as he picks you up and spins you around, keeping the kiss going until you're both breathless and dizzy.
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sugarwithtea · 1 year
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kissing under the mistletoe | jjk
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pairing : coworker!jungkook x reader
rating/genre : pg-15 // fluff, angst, frenemies to lovers, coworker au
summary : 'tis the season to be jolly, but one certain doe-eyed person is hell bent on not letting you have anything jolly. wait till you find out how you are the only one he wants. alternatively : jungkook, your ass coworker (with a great ass)likes to annoy you so you can give him some of your time.
word count : 13.9k
warnings : swearing, like 2 pov switches? but reader is always in second person so yes, one flashback scene, mentions of the passing of a grandparent, beginnings of a panic attack, nyctophobia, kissing. not too christmasy tbh, cuz i know nothing about how christmas parties work! also yoongi plays two roles -- the asshole and the wingman, so everyone say thankyou yoongi!!
note 1 : this gift was created through @bangtansecretsanta and is for @apotatomashedbybts !! surprise, i am your secret santa! you already know it from the preview i posted but still haha! i hope u like this small lil thing i came up with!
note 2 : a big thanks to @oddinary4bts for beta-ing this! thanks for saving my ass ella!! i am sorry for putting you through the struggle of editting my word vomit haha! thankyou sm!! also, merry christmas! i am a whole decade late yes! -- also, please reblog if you read/like this!
read on ao3
what was i listening to? (a bollywood playlist)
moodboard | masterlist | taglist
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You could kiss the person who made coffee for the first time on their mouth – dead or alive.
Walking out in the morning sun is a hellish task you have to do every morning, especially when it only leads you to entering your work building with a scowl and squinted eyes.
The only sight which makes your mornings pleasant is the lounged form of a certain Min Yoongi, right in front of your desk, eyes lazily raking over his surroundings – as if he'd be out the first chance he gets.
To be honest, you would too.
Especially when a guy who has sworn his job is to make your life hell strides in front of you, blocking your magnificent view of the one and only Min Yoongi, and smiles brightly at you – as if he is the only light source in the room.
"Hey." Jungkook perks up and you scowl at him. A way of you greeting him. Which he knows too well because the next second he rolls his eyes and turns back, leaning against your desk, now also staring at Min Yoongi.
"What do you want, Jeon?"
"What do you think he is thinking about?" his eyes squint more as he observes Yoongi more attentively.
"How there are people who have nothing better to do except think about other people's thoughts?" You should praise yourself for speaking a whole sentence before completing your cup of coffee.
"Cute. But that's my job." He whips his head back and looks down at you with a lazy grin, an eyebrow cocked and piercings glinting in the light.
Oh how you'd like to kiss that grin off his face.
Wait, no.
You shake your head.
"You are a graphic designer."
He tsks, "That's part time."
You roll your eyes and get back to setting up your desk for the day. If you knew Jungkook (which you do by now), he isn't going to move from here unless he is satisfied that your day had a hellish start. Well, jokes on him, cause your morning was hell even before you met him.
"What do you even find that interesting in him?"
Sigh. He is still staring at Min Yoongi.
"He is a treat for my sore eyes."
He perks up at your answer and turns fully towards you, leaning over your desk so his face is closer to yours, with an excited grin and a gleam in his eyes. A gleam which tells you his next question even before he opens his mouth-
"And me?"
"You are the cause of my sore eyes", you say with a sickly sweet smile that makes his smile drop.
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The next time you run into Jungkook, it's during lunch break.
"Did you hear about the party?" your coworker Mina asks you as you both settle down on a table in the far corner of the cafeteria.
"What party?"
"The Christmas party, Y/N. I heard this time they are gonna hang more mistletoes than necessary", she snickers and you groan as you take a big bite of your sandwich.
"I don- weawy wanna see em soggin", you say through a full mouth and furrow your eyebrows as the chair beside you scrapes on the tile.
"Where are your manners, you little girl?" Jungkook teases as he settles down beside you.
You gulp your bite as quickly as you can.
"And where is your decency, you idiot?"
"I need to be decent to talk to you?" he asks as he shoves a spoonful of fried rice in his mouth, not looking at you.
"That too. And also, you need to ask me before you sit down at my table."
"Mina said yes." You look at her to see her smiling at both of you, like your mother would if you told her you were going to finally marry someone good.
Fucking traitor.
You play around with your food as Mina and Jungkook converse rather dramatically, with his hand repeatedly coming in front of your face as you hit it away. It's not that you hate him – you just cannot stand him.
The first day you walked into the office, he was there to greet you with a bunny smile and a cutting jawline. God, the contrast in his looks. He was donning a simple button down and slacks, rather decent for work. But what was not decent, was the way his thighs filled the slacks and made it look like he was sculpted by a god. You had to clamp your mouth shut to stop yourself from spewing indecencies when you roved your eyes over his figure.
His eyes were crinkling around the edges as he smiled at you and welcomed you with a warm, airy voice. You were, of course, glad to have been shown to your desk and around the office space by him. And your smile was giddy like a teenager's when he asked you to join him for lunch break at the end of the week.
But after that week started an endless saga of constant bickering and pulling each other's legs. Your little crush on him was soon forgotten by you as your daily smile was replaced by an etching scowl.
It was quick for you to find out how competitive he is, and how strongly he stands his ground – how fucking opinionated he is about matters concerning the office. Almost all your meetings end with him looking at you with a twinkle in his eyes at having convinced your boss to do his bidding.
Never has he once said anything malicious to you, but you are fed up with him having his way. So much so that when last month he didn't oppose your ideas in the conference room, you walked up to him and asked if he was drunk or feeling sick. He had just rolled his eyes and went about with his day, but after that you had warmed up to him a little bit.
Still, he never fails to show you how annoying he can be – just like he is being right now.
"What? Are you thinking about going with me?" his voice breaks you out of your reverie.
"Hmm. With Min." Oh how you love to see the way his smile turns sour. It doesn't fall though.
"I heard he is single this year." Mina hums out.
That's when his smile threatens to fall, but Jeon Jungkook has mastered the game of schooling his expressions into neutrality.
"Interesting", he says and turns away from you.
Your eyes twinkle with mischief as Mina recounts the tale of Min Yoongi's infamous breakup – how his latest partner walked into the office on a damned Friday and gently, but dramatically broke up with him. Yoongi had seemed unaffected because of course that's him and almost everyone who knows him knew that he was not looking for anything serious.
Still, he had felt a little embarrassed. So much for not getting people's attention. But the way his eyes had swept across the room after she had left made everyone cower back to their work, as they held a clear message – 'I dare you to talk about this anytime soon.'
No one had been stupid enough to go against him, not even Jungkook, who had been away that fateful day, nearly a month ago. So now, Mina is filling him up on the details in hushed whispers.
"Lord!" he exclaims once she ends her retelling of the legend – at least the latest gossip for your department.
"You think you'll be able to woo him? Miss 'treat for my eyes'?"
"Sore eyes", you correct him and he grimaces as you continue, "And watch me, Jeon. Don't cry when he asks me out to be his date for the party."
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Min Yoongi didn't ask you out for the party.
You had to beg him to be his date.
One can say that you and him are on friendly terms. The 'I am your friend only if you buy me coffee for a week' kind of friendly. He agreed to be your date at the party after you bribed him, of course. But not before he analyzed and heard each and every angle of your reason.
Now the thing is, Min Yoongi can be an asshole if he wants.
And when he heard that your main motive is to spite a man who has been annoying you, he agreed without hesitation. He loves to rile people up, especially men who fall in the same spectrum as his – assholes.
He doesn't personally know Jungkook, but he heard your version of the story. And his reply was,"I sympathize with the man," as you flicked his forehead and swiped his coffee away from him. But one thing he knows,: for you, Jeon Jungkook is an asshole. And oh how he'd love to see drama and some shit go down at the ever so boring Christmas party. So, he agreed.
"He- What?" Mina gasps as you peel open a banana in the break room.
"Yup." Her eyes can't be bigger than this.
"He asked you out?"
"Uh huh."
"Ha. I don't fucking believe you." She points her unpeeled banana towards you and scoffs.
You roll your eyes,"Ask him then."
Telling her that is a mistake because as soon as you both walk out of the break room after finishing your snack, her eyes fall on Yoongi lounging at his desk (8 meters away) and she calls out his name – gathering the attention of every living being in the room, even Jungkook.
Oh how you want to yeet yourself out of the first window you see. Maybe the 12 floor fall will be more bearable than the embarrassment this lady is going to cause you.
"You are going to the Christmas party with…" she trails off.
Yoongi's eyes flicker to hers lazily, as if she is asking him if he works here or not. And maybe, talking is a big task for him because he just nods his head in your direction. Basically informing everyone and their mother that he is going with you, and then he turns back to his computer – without saying your name.
You wouldn't be surprised if he might have forgotten it.
As soon as everyone registers his gesture, audible gasps sound throughout the room, and you turn in time to see Jungkook standing at his desk with his eyes as wide as saucers and jaw almost touching the ground.
You give him a triumphant smirk and turn around to go to your desk.
And totally miss the way he crumples the small pink note in his hand and throws it in the trash.
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The coffee shop where you usually get your morning coffee is closed today. The office coffee machine is broken today.
And you are a second away from unleashing your rage on everyone.
As you return to your desk from the break room, you catch Jungkook lurking around your desk, nervously biting his lip and glancing towards the door. God, if he is again here to bother you as he does every morning, you are going to punch a bitch in the face. Because ain't no way you have the patience you always have.
"Jungkook", you sigh as you reach your desk.
"Before you say anything, I just want to say I am sorry", he interrupts you and stands straighter.
"For what?"
"Aaaaand have a good day", he ignores your question and immediately darts away, as if you are the plague and he has to avoid you.
And did he just wish you a good day? Weird.
What's more weird though is the cup of coffee sitting at your desk.
Beside your computer sits a steaming cup of coffee, with the letters 'JK' written on it. Did he forget his coffee at your desk? Is this another bitter – pun intended – reminder that you haven't yet had your coffee? Because you didn't need one.
You pick up the cup to head back to his desk when you see a small note previously hidden by the cup. It is a white slip of paper, torn haphazardly. You would have mistook it for some stray paper had you not seen the ink gracing the white.
'The coffee shop was closed and someone broke the machine. Have a good day - JK :-)
p.s. I am sorry if I messed up your coffee.'
Oh. Uh Oh.
He bought coffee for you? He went out of his way to bring a cup for you? He kept it in mind that your day was ought to be shitty if you didn't have a cup of coffee and he tried to resolve it? And this was what he was sorry for?
You can't even think straight at this moment. You take your seat and eye the cup of coffee as if it asked you for your first born. Your mortal enemy, the bane of your existence – well that would be too much – brought you coffee. Maybe this is not something to mull over for this long, but that's you. And if Jungkook's part time job is thinking about other people's thoughts, then yours is thinking about yours – overthinking.
The only good thing he has ever done for you is holding the door open a few times. And you nodded at him with a smile then, setting aside your differences for a mere moment.
Now how are you meant to be a bitch to him if he acts like this? Suddenly the sweet coworker.
You mindlessly take a sip and your mind calms down a little bit, but still racing. He hasn't messed up your coffee. It is the perfect cup of Americano with one sugar, no more, no less. Fuck. He knows this too? You don't know his coffee order. Great. Now you feel sad for not having that trivial piece of information.
On the other hand your heart gets a little soft for him. Even though in a way, it always was. Or else you wouldn't have tolerated a person this long. Somewhere along the way, you have grown fond of the bickering between the two of you, the words passed in pure frustration. You have grown fond of him. God, how embarrassing. But maybe you can live with it.
You need to thank him the first chance you get. And try to be civil with him.
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"He has a girlfriend? Since when?"
"I don't know. I think she is more of a friend accompanying him to the party." Mina says and rolls her eyes as you walk beside her on your way back to your car.
The whole day has flown by in a breeze and this time, you didn't get the chance to cross paths with Jungkook. You wanted to thank him for what he did in the morning, but the one time you willingly want to see him, he is out of sight.
"How would you know that? Maybe she is his girlfriend. I mean he did leave in a haste today when a girl called him."
"She could be anyone," she argues and you shake your head with a laugh.
"How can you be so sure of that?"
"Cause just a day ago he said-" she stops and unlocks her car, even though she didn't need to stop.
"He said what?"
Mina doesn't look at you while answering, shaking her head a little with a voice lower than before.
"That he is single, Y/N."
Huh. That doesn't mean he doesn't have a girlfriend now. A lot can happen in a day, you know that – especially now. But you don't say that to her as she is already getting inside her car, bidding you goodbye and sending you off.
You don't pay any mind to her and get into your car, already heading home.
Your mind races faster than air as you grip the wheel tighter. You don't even know why you are so bothered that Jungkook might have a girlfriend. He has always had some kind of flings going on, but for him to bring someone to an office party? That's a first. If he is bringing someone then maybe they are important for him, maybe it's serious with them.
Your stomach drops as you realize that maybe he lied to Mina about his relationship status because he wanted to give everyone a surprise? After all, it's been a long time since Jeon Jungkook had a serious girlfriend.
You really hope that's not the case. And you don't know why you hope so? Why the fuck do you care if Jungkook has a partner or not? You want to smash your head against the steering wheel with the amount of thoughts that plague your mind.
'Is she even his real girlfriend? Or he just wants to flaunt the fact that he can get anyone he wants?'
Now why did you think that? And what's with you accepting the fact that he can get anyone he wants? Well, he can. But, why would you think that?
You feel like you're being double-sided given that you are going to the party with someone. But that's not to make him jealous. It's to annoy him, because he thinks Min Yoongi is out of your league. Then why do you think that Jungkook is doing this to come back at you? Insane of you to even speculate something so ridiculous.
You shake your head as you pull into the parking lot of your apartment.
You feel like you are obsessed with him – which you are not. You are just thinking about general things like why would he have a partner, possibly in a serious relationship – in the same way one thinks about things like today's weather, right? Yes absolutely.
Way to gaslight yourself.
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Has anyone ever said that normally when you think about something a lot, you start seeing it everywhere? Or like, the first thing you see in the morning?
Because why, as you are entering the lobby of your office building on a fresh Monday after the coffee fiasco, are you seeing Jungkook beside the elevator? He normally comes in way earlier than this. What did you do to deserve meeting him first thing in the morning?
As you near him, you realize he looks a bit tired. His eyes are sullen, with dark bags underneath them, his shoulders drooping and hair frayed over his forehead, looking very unkempt.
Your footsteps catch his attention and he whips his head towards you, surprisingly managing a weak smile and you immediately return the gesture, not thinking for a second. You nod at him, wordlessly, and stand beside him, waiting for the elevator to come from God knows what floor.
Okay. This feels like a perfect time to thank him. He could work with an ego boost, as you are in no way going to ask him why he is down – not sending any snarky greetings, or stupid questions your way. Kind of weird for the both of you to stand there in complete silence.
"Jungkook", you call out and he slowly turns his head towards you, answering with a hum.
"Thank you for the coffee that day." He smiles at this and you internally chide yourself.
"Ah. Did I get the order correct?"
"Yes. Yes you did. I wanted to thank you the same day but you left quite early so … " you trail off as he almost drops his smile, trying hard to keep the curve of his lips intact and in his cheeks, rather than dropping them. You can very well see the struggle he has to go through to stay cool and composed.
"Yeah. It was an emergency."
Oh.
So it was not some girlfriend of his? Why did you think so? Oh my god. And, it was an emergency. Shit. You mentally slap yourself for even trying to play the whole thing off very lightly.
The lift arrives that very moment and you both step inside, him sulking again.
"If you don't mind me asking, is everything okay?"
He looks at you, trying to come up with an answer, finally settling to go with the truth.
"Not really, I mean. My grandmother passed away."
You take in a sharp breath and that's exactly when the door closes. Oh. My. God. Y/N you absolute fucking idiot. You could bang your head against the wall for your stupidity and absolutely wrong judgment.
"I am so sorry. I-" you pause and he looks at you," I won't say I understand, cause I don't. But I hope you are okay?" Stupid of you to end your assurance like this. Didn't he just now say that everything is not okay?
He looks at you, speechless but with a gracious smile. You should do some damage repair over here. Of course, as you said, you don't understand the pain of losing a grandparent because you have never even met yours, already passed away before your birth. But, you know it can be very painful. And given Jungkook's current state, your heart aches to stand there doing nothing while he struggles to not break down.
"Can, can I hug you?" you ask meekly and he suddenly whips his head towards you, so you rush to explain yourself, "I am not good with words but I … " you trail off and look down, biting the inside of your cheek nervously.
Nuh huh. Not a good idea. Even if he is in grave misery, why would he hug you? Who are you, his friend? Ha, as if. Maybe you should take the offer back and not embarrass yourself further. Yes, that could work.
You look up to tell him it's okay but what happens next makes you go completely stiff.
He hugs you.
His warmth envelopes you as he slowly wraps his arms around your shoulders, pulling you in – albeit hesitantly, but still. Your hands fall limp by your side as your head finds solace on his chest. Remembering that you were the one who proposed a hug, and completely ignoring the feeling arising in your stomach, you wrap your hands around his torso, patting his back.
As soon as you reciprocate his touch, he audibly sighs and places his cheek on your head, holding you tighter. It's as if his grief evaporates a bit, the warmth from you forming a case around him. You think you hear him smile, but then again, you cannot hear a smile.
You stop patting his back and hold him tight, snuggling into his chest unintentionally. He holds your head to his heart and you can hear it beat wildly fast – maybe yours is in the same state. But you're glad he can't hear yours.
'Don't let yourself slip, Y/N.' you think because this is uncharted territory. With his body pressed up against yours and his sadness seeping into you, you don't know how you feel anymore. Is this you melting for him? Yes, you won't lie to yourself anymore. It's high time now. Especially with the way he fits into you, so perfectly – like a jigsaw piece fitting into the tiniest crevices of a puzzle. It's ridiculous how you came to this.
A small thank you is mumbled into your hair and you think he sniffs your hair before you both part, slowly, longingly. He stares into your eyes with hints of tears lining his eyes and your heart breaks a little. But when he smiles with all his will and shine, you think maybe you can look at it every second of your life.
The elevator dings and the door opens as you hastily pull apart from him, patting your hair and wringing your fingers through the unkempt strands. You had forgotten that you were in an elevator. That's when you realize that you might have hugged for what, like a few seconds? But the moment felt like it was stretched for minutes and hours of comfort.
Both of you step out of the elevator and walk side by side, albeit at a distance, and silently to your desks. Why can't you calm the fuck down? It was just a hug. And he just happened to be a bit vulnerable. God. Not a good sign for your feelings.
You are still disheveled by the time you reach your desk. To your surprise, he stops there for a moment longer than you might have expected, and looks at you with a small, soft, knowing smile.
"Thank you." he says quietly.
You chuckle.
"You already said that."
"I know, but still. Thank you, for everything." He nods, smiles and disappears in a flash, not even waiting for your reply.
What does he mean by everything?
Wow. Now you have one more thing to overthink about.
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The day is slowly bleeding into night, the moon already visible as you make your way to the cab, pulling your coat tight against your shivering body. The cold is terrible, and more so is your mood.
You aren't exactly looking forward to the Christmas party, now knowing that Jungkook is bringing someone. Also, your main motive to go with Min Yoongi was to rile Jungkook up. But now, you don't necessarily want to annoy him – especially after the small moment you had a few days ago in the elevator. You have had a lot of time to think since then, and you know what you feel. You aren't going to lie to yourself anymore. It isn't as if you are going with Yoongi for your personal desires. Well, not anymore.
Of course, you are a little bit attracted to Min Yoongi. But that is just to give your eyes some sort of relief during the stressful work hours. He is like an insignificant celebrity crush. And, you know he is a bigger asshole than you and Jungkook combined.
So now, you are miserably waiting for him below your office building, after your cab drops you off. Usually, he is always on time. But also, he doesn't usually go to parties with you. For all you know he must be stalling to make you wait for him – just because he can.
A moment later, a cab pulls up right beside you and out steps the man you want to strangle with your bitter cold hands which could spear icicles through his throat. Also, how can he look so much better than you? Wearing a monochrome shirt tucked into black slacks, with hair parted in the middle and.. Did he dye them blonde? Yes. Oh god, he did. Why does he look so good that it makes you wanna kill him more?
"Where the fuck were you?"
"Taking my sweet time getting ready for you, sweetheart." You gag at this and quickly step inside the lobby, making a beeline for the elevator, which fortunately, you don't have to wait for. Now that you think about it, you could've waited for this asshole inside the lobby. Huh. Whatever.
You almost let the door close on him but he wiggles his way inside with a grunt. Jesus.
"We are meant to be each other's date for tonight", he reminds you.
"Unfortunately. But I know that."
At this he raises an eyebrow and looks at you.
"You were the one who begged me to go with you. Don't act all snippy now."
He is right. Your mood is bad, but that doesn't mean you can act like a complete dick. He hasn't done anything to annoy you, yet.
"Sorry."
Thankfully he doesn't reply back, sensing your snarky mood and just nods at your weak ass apology.
The elevator opens to a complete ruckus. There are people bustling around the hallway leading up to the glass doors behind which there is more chaos. The top floor of your office building is luxurious and pristinely decorated, with high ceilings and sleek marble flooring. The party's decorations are subtle, with a christmas tree and multiple lights. But one thing that catches everyone's eye is the unusual amount of mistletoes.
They are literally everywhere. At the entrance, hanging on a string of fairy lights over the open bar, propped over the dance floor, in the hallway leading to the restrooms. Everywhere. There might be more but your vision is not so keen on finding them.
You walk with Yoongi by your side, none of you touching the other (why would you?) when you spot Mina at the bar. Of course. Whenever you need her, she'll be getting absolutely wasted. You walk up to her, Yoongi surprisingly keeping up with you and you call her out.
"Hey. You came alone?" She has a partner and they have been together for more than two years. They have attended almost all parties together but today she is alone, drinking her time away.
"Cyan has gone to their parent's house. It's been a while since they visited," You smile at that. It's true. They have been around for almost everything. You are glad they finally get to visit their family this holiday,"But that means that I feel so fucking alone right now." Mina completes with a whine and gulps her drink down.
You coo at that and stand behind her, draping your arms around her shoulder and bringing her near you.
"Don't worry. You have us to give you company." You say and look at Yoongi hopefully who just grunts as a response.
"I mean, you have me, at least."
She laughs and shakes her head.
"I don't expect anyone, Y/N. Go and enjoy. If you need me sometime, you'll find me getting shitfaced over here."
"Enjoy with who? Yoongi?" You laugh and stand back, rolling your eyes. You have only one friend at your workplace. And she wants to drown in her misery with whiskey. A concerning amount of whiskey. She flags the bartender to get another drink and you try to ask her to cut it down a little when Yoongi moves way too close to you.
His hand slides around your waist and he pulls you in a little. You gasp and look at Mina who is not paying attention and then hit his arm lightly.
"What are you doing?" You whisper, yell at him and he grins.
"You know, I like annoying people."
"Tell me something I don't already know. And don't try to annoy me." He moves you a little away from the bar and near the dance floor, still holding onto you.
"Hmm. Not you." He hums out and you furrow your eyebrows questioningly. At that he rolls his eyes and dips his head to your ear as you go completely still. "3 o'clock to your left. Don't look directly."
You do look directly. And see Jungkook at the far end leaning against the wall with his jaw clenched, hands in his pocket, and looking directly at you. Your breath hitches a little at his sight. You quickly move your head to Yoongi again and look at him, absolutely enjoying your state.
"I'm loving how Jeon is absolutely burning right now." He grins and you have the urge to strangle him right then and there.
"Also," He begins and pulls you closer, simultaneously leading you both a little more towards the dance floor,"did you notice that we both are matching? Coincidentally of course."
You widen your eyes in realization. Why is your luck like this? Of all people, you match with Min fucking Yoongi. Mindlessly your eyes go down to your outfit, a black fitted dress that goes to your ankles with a white strap running across your waist, and a sweetheart neckline, you realize he is right. Your monochromatic dress matches with his outfit. Ugh.
On the other hand, Jungkook is wearing a khaki leather shirt and black fitted slacks which accentuate his … everything. His hair is swept back showing his forehead and his piercings just add to the appeal, gleaming under the Christmas lights. You can climb him like a tree.
You don't look at him again though. His look is very much imprinted in your mind. Yoongi, that fucker, grins again at your miserable state and you hate that he loves this so much.
"He is jealous, oh my god." You don't pay any mind to him and sway a little to the music. Because there's no way Jungkook is jealous. Now that you think about it, why is he alone? Hasn't Mina said that he was going to come with someone else?
"He is … alone?" You mumble distractedly and Yoongi rolls his eyes.
"Are you going to ask everyone the same question?" He says referring to the question you asked Mina.
"No. I mean, he was going to come with someone."
"But he hasn't." Yoongi says slowly as he takes your hand and twirls you in a circle, dancing along with you.
To anyone who is watching you two, it might seem that you are engaging in a slow peaceful dance, and conversing with grins decorating your face. Because even in your confused state, your face reflects a hint of mirth, and Yoongi is already sporting a lopsided grin.
But it's not the truth. It's basically your mind racing a million miles an hour and Yoongi teasing you to his heart's content. The whispers between you two can easily fool anyone, even Mina who you see staring at you like a bee stung her. It is comical, the look on her face. You'll have to explain the whole mess to her later. Cause why are you dancing with Min Yoongi so lovingly? As if he hung the stars in your sky.
He raises his eyebrows at you and tips his head towards the dance floor, finally. You were wondering how long it would take for him to ask you there. You roll your eyes and he tugs you to the elevated center, just when the song switches to a slow, piano version of 'All I Want For Christmas Is You'. Oh what perfect timing.
"So, you heard me?" He asks when you place your arms around his neck, and sway with him slowly.
"I did. I am just thinking." He gasps at this.
"Since when?" And you hit his arm, mumbling a word your mom wouldn't be too glad hearing you speak – even if you are a 26 year old woman.
"In all honesty, though. He is a goner for you." He shakes his head as if it is as obvious as day.
"What?"
"Are you fucking blind? He is in love with you. No no, he has been in love with you, for so fucking long." He laughs and twirls you again.
"Yoongi, don't." You warn him. What the actual fuck?
"I know we are not friends. But I know a lovesick guy when I see one. And Jeon is just that." You furrow your eyebrows at that, and mindlessly, your eyes flit to the form of Jungkook completely seething at the opposite wall. Oh my god, he might just break the glass (which he picked up god knows when) from his tight grip on it.
Your stomach dips at the realization that he really does look jealous. Hellishly jealous of Yoongi. Because his stare is burning holes in his back but Yoongi, the ever asshole, is enjoying it.
"Also, later, when he asks you, tell him I'm gonna go home with that DJ guy." Yoongi's quiet voice breaks you out of your thoughts.
"I am not gonna fuck that DJ guy."
"Idiot. I," He takes his hand off your waist and points to himself,"I am gonna fuck him. You are gonna fuck him." He tips his head in Jungkook's direction and your face heats up.
"Why would he ask that?" You grumble and look away.
"Oh you know he will." You do know. Of course. If he really is jealous right now, and if he really does like (love) you how Yoongi is saying, he will definitely ask that.
The rest of the song plays on and you both move in silence, which gives you plenty of time to think. One, you like him. It's not rocket science to conclude that you are head over heels for him. You don't think you love him – but is there a light? Yes. And that scares and thrills you at the same time. Also, Yoongi? Jungkook loves you? You'd be an absolute fool to agree with whatever Min has to say, but the possibility makes your inside warm and your heart race, all giddy and hopeful. No, you are not hopeful that he will love you. But, he likes you to this extent? Would you have ever thought?
'Stop it, Y/N. It's not good to think about what Min said and raise your hopes and then shatter them', you think and shake your head. Yoongi, obviously, catches this and quirks a brow at you, at the very moment when the song ends. You wave his curiosity off and get away from him, walking down the dance floor with him on your tail.
"Go and woo your DJ guy." You wink at him and he understands what you actually need, easily going away with a knowing smile that shows his gums.
All this time, while you were navigating through your thoughts, you have lost sight of Jungkook. So it's to your utter surprise that you find him sitting at the bar when you go there to get a drink, with his head hung low and staring into his empty glass.
He looks so sad, as if he is living alone in a barren world. Your heart almost reaches out to him but you stop yourself in time, and instead, quietly perch yourself on the empty stool beside his.
Your dress rustles a little and that catches his eye. He turns to look at you with downtrodden shoulders, and watches you order a drink. His eyes trace every motion of yours and you try your best to get your drink in your hand before looking towards him. You'll need it.
"We peasants owe this pleasure for what?" His smile is sweet, sickly. You take a sip of your drink and smack your lips.
"Jungkook." You sigh when he still has that painful smile on his lips.
"Where is Yoongi? Don't you wanna dance with him on another number?" he asks innocently but you know the mask very well now.
"Jungkook", you warn.
"What? Why are you sad? Didn't you want him? Now you have him." He chuckles and you scowl. "A treat for my sore eyes", He mocks you and you finally snap.
"What is your problem?"
"What is your problem?"
"You."
He stills at your comment and you are at your peak.
"You are my problem. Don't you understand this is so fucking messed up? We play cat and mouse without even a single word about what we feel. It's," you sigh,"it's so tiring. All we do is bicker like teenagers and then get offended when the other does something. Like, isn't it our motive to offend each other? To shove the other to the ground? I'm just confused and annoyed right now."
"It's not my motive to offend you."
You all but choke at that, and slam your drink down on the table, doubling down in fits of cough. Your hand flies to your mouth to cover it and simultaneously Jungkook's goes to your back, patting and running soothing circles to calm you down.
"It's not my motive to offend you," His voice is calm, leveled,"But I don't know, everything I do seems to tick you off. It's like that brain of yours is a bomb and I am the trigger", he finishes and your coughs die down. You know you should think straight, be a person, act like an adult. But when he said your mind was fickle and implied that you were the problem, you surely didn't like it.
"Oh so now I am the problem?" you grumble and he sighs. You are being a bitch, you know that. You also know that you shouldn't have said this. He was genuinely trying to mend things with you. You don't wait for his answer and storm off. Nowadays when your brain goes haywire, you go away for a while to calm yourself down. Because you decide, the open bar at your office Christmas party is not the perfect place to have a showdown of 'Who can be the bigger asshole?' with Jungkook.
You need some time to think, gather your thoughts. Learn how to think with your brain and not like a bitch.
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Jungkook fucked up.
So much for getting on your good side. What was he even thinking? He knows he always has to walk on eggshells around you. Then why couldn't he do it for one more night?
What was he thinking when he made that small little card to ask you out for the party? Fucking idiot, that's what he is. His head falls on the counter and he groans. He wants to flip this table.
He closes his eyes and sighs.
---
Jungkook is feeling cranky. He has been called earlier because someone new is joining today, and he is expected to be on his best behavior. He checks himself in the glass of the door which can open anytime soon. Even though blurry, his reflection is enough for him to know he looks presentable – which he was skeptical of, given that he has rolled out of bed and rushed to the office in less than forty-five minutes. Without coffee.
He decides he needs a cup of coffee before the new person comes in. Just so they don't think he isn’t an asshole, because he can be one without caffeine in his system.
His outfit is presentable and he is feeling good once he has a steaming cup of coffee in his hand. Now this is the Jeon Jungkook he likes.
The door opens and Jungkook, leaning against the wall, lets a wide grin spread over his face, with his eyes crinkling and radiating warmth. Welcoming. He straightens up a little, hoping he doesn't weird you out by his teeth and slouch.
The first thing he sees as you step inside is your anxious face. Your features are twisted into nervousness, but there is excitement lurking in between those lines. Your eyes take everything in, but you are not scared. No, you are far from scared. With the black slacks and white button up that you don, paired with the sleekest high heels he has ever seen, your aura is dominating. It's a 'no nonsense' vibe. And even though you are nervous, because who isn't when it's the first day at their new job, you carry yourself with grace and confidence.
Your eyes scan the surroundings, and finally land on Jungkook. He notices that as soon as you see his smiling face, full of glee, some of your nervousness dissipates as your features relax. And even when your eyes were meek, Jungkook noticed one thing.
You are pretty. The kind that doesn’t let him take his off you. Not the gaudy, flashy kind. But then again, pretty can't be defined with another adjective – it's just that, pretty. The air you carry with yourself asks for people's attention, and the smile that graces your features then tells him that you never take that attention for granted.
Your smile is soft, and he wants to count the eyelashes that brush your cheek whenever you blink. Jeon Jungkook is not a man who would fall on his knees for a woman, especially before he even knows her name. So, he isn’t falling that deep, yet. But god do you intimidate him, even if you look kind.
"Hello, I am Y/N." Oh god. Your voice is sweet too. You have extended your hand and he quickly shakes it, trying not to linger.
"My dumbass didn't fix the wall clock and I forget I have other means to check the time. I am sorry for being late", you hastily explain and Jungkook wants to say it's okay, you are hardly late, but he is spellbound.
That day, he shows you around the office. Yes, he talks a lot. He also makes you laugh. And so, the smile on your face at the end of the day leads him to ask you to accompany him for lunch that weekend. You understood it as lunch in the break room and Jungkook didn't have the heart to correct you, trying to get anything he could.
At the end of the week, he knew he had an inkling of something for you. Something that made him giddy like a teenager.
---
Jungkook wonders how you both came to this. Maybe he knows. But he was never sure what annoyed you so much. He tried to be on his best behavior around you, but somehow it irked you.
Nevertheless, he continued to fall for you. So much that he had hope, that one day maybe you would not see him through the red fog of annoyance.
But feelings are a bitch. And so is someone else, because-
"Well, that was painful to watch." Min fucking Yoongi, he is a bitch.
"And who are you exactly helping by being here?" Jungkook returns without missing a beat, straightening up with a scowl on his face.
"Oh don't worry, Jeon. I don't help. Being kind does not fit my aesthetic", he quips back and settles on the stool you were on just a minute ago.
Jungkook groans when he realizes that Yoongi has no plans of going away soon. He turns back to his empty glass and almost slams his head down on the counter but thinks better.
"Min Yoongi, you are literally the last person I want to see right now."
"Trust me, I know." He quirks his head and sets Jungkook with a look that makes him want to-
"Then why are you here?"
"Because I have nothing better to do." Yoongi shrugs and Jungkook wills himself to not kill him.
A moment passes in which Yoongi stays quiet, surprisingly. Meanwhile, Jungkook turns around and his eyes scan the expanse of the room. He is trying to find you, of course. He had a thought of following you after you stormed off, but he knew better than to. After so long, he knows that when you need space, you should have space. Or else things can become ugly real soon.
He still thinks about the days when you happily chatted with him, didn't go away or shut yourself when he came near you or sat with you for lunch. He does have an idea that his overbearing nature and need to prove himself led you to stray away from him – after all, you had first seen him as a friend, and if he himself turned it into a competition, then you needed to go along with it.
The both of you are an odd case, but he loves it nonetheless. Loves how your face lights up whenever you achieve something, whenever you are happy. He loves how excited you get when you go on one of your mindless rants, not knowing that it's Jungkook who is listening to you, and your friend has stopped paying attention a long time ago. He loves the way you bring him comfort from whatever you do, loves the playful banter between you two. He loves everything about you.
Oh my god, he thinks. He needs to stop drinking. Or else god forbid he spews his thoughts out loud.
His heart sinks when he realizes you are nowhere to be found, at least in his line of sight.
"How lovesick can you be, Jeon?"
He warily turns his head to look at Min Yoongi. How can someone be so fucking frustrating?
"How stupid can you be, Min?" he asks and Yoongi snorts in his drink. He slowly swirls the amber liquid in his glass and grins.
"You know, you should tell her that you love her."
Jungkook stills. His hand that was straightening the collar of his shirt stops and he blinks. What did he say?
"What?"
"What? I said something?" Oh god. Who pays him to act like this?
Jungkook shakes his head, not able to say anything. Is it so clear? He doesn't even know Yoongi. Still, Yoongi can see through him and his stupor. Is he being so obvious? Jungkook's brain goes on an overdrive of questions. Do you know this? Is this why you are always running away from him? Do you, do you hate him so much? Oh god, he can't bear to think this. He immediately turns around to get another drink.
"Calm down, Jeon." Yoongi says, rather calmly.
"I am calm."
"Tell that to yourself." He snatches the drink as soon as it is placed in front of Jungkook, holding it at an arm's length.
"Min Yoongi I swear to god-"
"What? Idiot. See we don't know each other. And believe me, I love drama, especially during the holidays. But nothing goes on for this long. So suck it up and talk to her." He takes a sip from the drink Jungkook ordered for himself and shakes his head as if he is disappointed in him.
The look on his face makes Jungkook want to defend himself.
"I tried to talk to her. But evidently, my words are always wrong."
Yoongi sighs,"Jungkook, you know her better than I do. Take your time to think about the words, not your feelings." He stands up to leave and continues in an almost whisper, "Also, don't think that she hates you, or else you'll be surprised." Yoongi goes away as soon as he says this, without any kind of explanation or expressions, leaving behind a flabbergasted Jungkook.
Loving is not easy, or so Jungkook has heard. But with you, it is the easiest thing he has ever done. He fell for you like the leaves fall in autumn, slow and sure. He layed in your wake as you graced him with your presence. He is helpless, he is gone. He hopes you don't really hate him. Because, he doesn't know how much more of this heartburn he can endure.
Or else you'll be surprised
Yoongi's parting (not exactly parting) words echo in his mind. What does he mean by this? Jungkook wonders and wonders until he-
Oh my god, does this mean?
He needs to find you soon.
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The lights in the ladies room are way too bright for your liking. You don't need to see your reflection so clearly in the mirror, especially when you feel so fucking guilty.
You feel like an asshole – maybe you are one. All this time you had been thinking about him, and his gestures which were oh so sweet. And when finally he tries to mend things with you, you snap. Like a teenager who doesn't know how to control all the new emotions they are feeling, you fucking snap. It was so childish of you to run away from him, from the situation like that.
The look on his face when you said that makes your heart ache. And it's not the joint ache or the pain you feel when you twist your ankle, no. It's like heartburn, the one that claws at your throat and chokes you. You literally gasp for air as tears pool in your eyes.
You are glad there is no one in the restroom when a stray tear makes its way on your cheek. (Finally your waterproof makeup is of use).
This is not you. Your reflection mocks you and you want to break the mirror. You are not like this. You don't hurt people, especially those who go out of their way to let you know that they care for you. You know no one else but you are to blame for this. Because when you look back at it, Jungkook has always tried to talk to you, and never rudely. He has always been playful, a little sarcastic with that gleam in his eyes.
You were already soft for him. Or else you wouldn't have kept up with him for this long. But at this point, you are completely putty, folding for him. It's pathetic. You are pathetic and you know that.
The hurt look on his face flashes behind your eyes as you close them, and you wince. You want nothing more than to hug him, to kiss him and say that he is not the problem. You want to assure him that he was never the problem, and you are not annoyed with him. You are annoyed with yourself.
It's ridiculous how quickly you go on a self-hating tangent when someone you lo- care for, is hurt by you. No, you need to stop, or else you'll be here for God knows how long.
You need to find Jeon Jungkook at the earliest.
You dry your eyes and wash your hands, (not your face because your life is not a movie) as you finally look at yourself in the mirror.
You can do this. You can speak your heart to him, and hope he doesn't run away.
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Your first step outside the restroom is full of resolve, and directed towards one, and only one goal.
To find Jungkook.
The feeling that is rising in your heart is making you giddy, like a goddamn teenager. Even though guilt is hidden somewhere in the nooks and crannies of your emotions, the one that is visible is the same you feel right now. Your cheeks burn at the thought of what if?
This is pathetic. You are a twenty six year old, well experienced woman. Why are you blushing at your imaginations? Wait, no. Why are you imagining stuff? You need help. Better, you need him.
You cautiously move towards the bar again, hoping to find him still sitting there (very low chances), while also looking around for any chances of him not sitting there (not any, there are many).
But, as soon as you get away from the restroom, darkness spreads all around as the power suddenly cuts off. You can literally hear the power trip – so it's either someone messing or it's really an accident.
Audible gasps are heard from all around as people scramble to grasp the situation, and themselves. Your feet don't move as people rush all around you. You stay rooted in your place when your vision doesn't help you, at all. The lack of windows doesn't allow any kind of moonlight or streetlight to filter in, and it's absolute darkness.
You consider yourself to be brave, headstrong. But darkness is where you draw the line. It's nauseating. You feel like it's sticking to your body and creeping up your skin, making you want to shake yourself out of the daze. It scares you to no end, because you do not like creepy things.
Your mind tries to calm you, but it fails. Your feet try to move, but they fail. Your eyes try to adapt to the darkness, but again, they fail. You can feel the panic settling in your bones. You need something to ground yourself to. You count your breaths slowly and shake your fingers but the whispers and murmurs of people all around you makes you want to crouch down and shout with your hands on your ears. You need something. You need someone to-
"Y/N?"
That- Your neck almost breaks with the speed at which it turns towards the voice. The voice which you want, which you need.
"Jungkook", you sigh, but your voice is high pitched, scared. And as soon as you say his name, you are pulled into a hard, but comforting chest. You immediately wrap your hands around his torso and cling to him for your life. Like he is the only source that is letting you breathe and live.
He holds you close, tight, as if you will slip away if he lets you go. And maybe you will. Because you desperately need an anchor, and he is just the one for you. He invades your senses and that's when you feel like maybe you can breathe again.
You gasp for air as tears line your eyes. You hate the dark. It makes you see things you don't even want to know about.
"Shh. Hey, I am here. Don't worry", his voice breaks your dangerous train of thought and you sigh, nodding against his chest.
You try to control your breathing, slowly as your nails almost dig in his back. You feel like maybe you'll fall down, but the constant rhythm of his heart beating under your ear grounds you, and wills you to stay on your feet. You almost fucking melt in his arms when his lips touch your hair, and he mumbles calmly.
"Breathe, breathe with me. Don't worry, everything is gonna be fine. Just stay with me, okay?" His voice is like honey, bleeding into your ears and giving you comfort. His breathing gets slow, to help you, and you mumble a small okay into his chest, with your eyes screwed shut.
You try to focus on the rhythmic movement of his chest, as it goes up and down with every inhale and exhale of his. Soon enough, your breathing matches his and your worry and panic deflate a big amount. You can finally feel yourself again. And the sudden realization of his scent invading your (now normal) breathing makes you soar in the clouds.
His heartbeat is faster, now that you notice. It's the same that you felt when you hugged him in the elevator. You mindlessly snuggle into his chest and his lips press against your head with more resolve.
"Hey, you okay there?"
That's when you realize.
He knew. He knew of your fear. He knew how you feel when you encounter the dark. And the way he pulled you in and comforted you just solidified the fact that he knew this information very well.
"You, you knew that I-" you gulp. You don't even need to speak for him to know your next words.
"I did." An assurance. Two words that tell you that he knows and will always know of the things that unsettle you. And he will always be there to bring you back to yourself, bring you back to him.
"How?"
"Does that matter? I am just glad that you are here with me." His arms around you hold you even tighter, and you want to say that you will always be there with him.
You smile with red, burning cheeks as you move your head and let your lips rest against his chest. You are so glad he can't see your goddamn blush, but you can swear you just felt the beat under you speed up.
"Thank you", you whisper quietly, but you know he heard it when he moves your head and dips down.
His lips touch your forehead and you still.
The action is so simple, yet it twists your heart in knots. Because, he kissed your forehead. Out of care, out of affection, out of adoration. It's so sweet that you want to die. Is this how you die? Overwhelmed by the simplest act of affection? You are glad it's him, because at this moment, you can't think of a better way to go.
He pulls away and looks down at you with concern in his big, doe eyes. You want to drown in them. You can't see his face properly, but you know the sight is breathtaking, you can feel it. You can see the outline of a strand of hair falling on his face, and you move a little away, breaking the hug to try to look at his whole face, when the lights suddenly switch on.
Brightness fills the room (brighter than before) and you step back, suddenly blinded by the intensity of the light. Your hand shields you as if you have just walked out in the sun, and maybe you have. Because Jungkook's glow is surely blinding you.
His eyes gleam softly, big and doe-like. He stares at you with what you can only make out as stars in his eyes. It's enthralling, the feeling that settles in the pit of your stomach. You don't even realize you were blatantly staring at him when loud cheers break you out of your reverie.
People all around are cheering a few couples who found themselves under the numerous mistletoes hung almost everywhere. You watch with amusement as a couple dives right into a makeout session as soon as they realize they have the opportunity, while a pair hesitates to even look at each other, just a few feet away.
A few painful seconds pass after which the crowd gives up on cheering them, because clearly, it's a lost cause. And clearly, you don't realize what you are doing till someone nudges your hand. You don't know who that person is, because they walk away as quickly as they came, shouting out a smug thing.
"You know, it's bad luck to not kiss."
It's what?
Jungkook gasps as he looks up and belatedly you both realize you have found yourself under a mistletoe. Under. A. Mistletoe.
There is someone whistling, there is someone laughing, there is someone cheering, but all you can see is that you are standing with him under a mistletoe, as he looks at you like he too, can't notice anything else.
You don't know if it's really bad luck or not. But you do know that you'd really like to kiss Jungkook. And you hope he does too.
None of you move, and he mistakes your lack of action as hesitancy.
"If you are uncomfortable we can move somewhere else. I mean-"
"No."
Jungkook blinks.
"Huh?"
"I mean, it's bad luck to not kiss. Right?" you shrug, "So we would not like that. Right?" Why, god why? Why are you speaking like a teenager? Just, hold him and tell him you are head over heels for him and would kiss him even if that meant bad luck for you. You hope he doesn't walk away at your reasoning.
He stops back a smile and nods like a child, his eyes holding the humor and happiness his mouth fails to deliver.
"Yes, of course. We don't need bad luck."
You roll your eyes and stand straighter, a smile playing at your lips.
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Is this what dreams feel like? Is Jungkook dreaming? He feels like he is flying. There is no way you are standing in front of him, a flustered mess and making excuses to kiss him. As if he won't kiss you whenever you ask him to. He can kiss you all day (only if you allow him to, of course).
He feels giddy. He wants to hold you and recite the poem he read a while ago that reminded him of you. He wants to write you a song that makes you laugh and look at him with hearts in your eyes. He wants to do everything for you, and everything with you. A kiss is only the beginning of his love for you.
The smile on his face increases when his hands find your face. There is literally no one watching you, no one is there to pester you to kiss, but still you both do it. It's not a movie, but he feels like time slows down around him.
A lone petal which has been enduring the weather for a long time, finally falls when he dips down and attaches his lips to yours.
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In the midst of the chaos of the party, Jungkook attaches his lips to yours, and you still. For a moment, you forget that you are standing in the middle of a crowded hall. For a moment, all you feel is him.
An oh so sweet feeling settles deep inside you, and it seems like a lifelong yearning of yours has been settled. He moves his lips against yours gingerly, his hand cradling your jaw as if you will break if he even touches you with fervor. Your toes curl with the soft intensity of the kiss and you lean into him a bit more. The hints of wine that you taste on his lips pulls you into throws of ecstasy and your hands find themselves around his neck.
He kisses you like a dew drop touches the petals of a flower in the morning, soft and gentle. His tongue doesn't skirt at your lips, and you are glad, or else you would've turned a mistletoe kiss into a makeout session. You forget about everything around you.
But when he pulls away, his nose a hair's breadth away from yours, and breath fanning across your lips, you realize you don't even need to know about anything around you.
It's him, and just him.
"Y/N?" it's a whisper quieter than the quietest of nights, but you hear it nonetheless. As if he is asking you if you are still there with him or are still swimming in the ecstasy he has thrown you into.
You don't know what you are feeling. You don't know what to speak when your mind has gone on an overdrive and shut down simultaneously. What if you open your mouth and speak things that are so incoherent that he thinks he has to walk on eggshells around you, again? It's tiring trying to navigate your mind when you can hear your heartbeat loud in your ears. Does he hear it too?
Your eyes stare into his, with millions of questions and just a look of his doe eyes assure you that you are not alone. You will get answers, you will know what this is.
He swipes a finger at your cheek, as if asking you for your sincerity, and you mindlessly nod at his unworded request. It's funny that you are operating on autopilot, but you can't do anything else when your breath has been stolen from your lungs.
A loud cheer breaks you out of your reverie and you notice that people have now gathered around you two. God, it's so embarrassing. Not kissing him, but unintentionally acting like a fool in front of everyone. You think you see Yoongi with a smug smile in your peripheral vision, and maybe, just maybe, Mina is cheering too, but you ignore the whole ordeal.
You need to get out of here.
And just then-
"Wanna get out of here?"
Yes, God yes. Jungkook asks you the right question at the right moment, because of course he is Jeon Jungkook and he is always there for you. You nod and your smile grows as he pulls away from you, only for his hand to touch your elbow. His touch is featherlight, but you shiver nonetheless.
As you leave, you smile at the onlookers and they start to disappear. You are glad no one is nosy enough to come and ask you what will happen next.
You know two people who would like to know, and you know they, or at least Mina, is hopefully looking at you, but you just give her a look that says 'Later' and run away behind Jungkook.
Your feet follow his without other thought and you think maybe that's just what it is.
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The night is still young when you step out in the fresh air with him. None of you speaks a word, it's as quiet as the night around you. Until it isn't.
“I am glad we got out of there. Those people are crazy.” Jungkook shakes his head as he says this and you laugh.
“True. Especially Mina and Yoongi. It's so good that we escaped them.”
At this Jungkook stops walking and you almost stumble. When you look around, you both are standing in an empty street with the streetlight and the moonlight being your only companion. There is no noise, given that you both got out from the parking lot and not the main lobby.
But the silence invites you like an old friend, and you are glad that the only one breaking it is Jungkook, and no one else.
"Did he, did he tell you?"
"Did he tell me what?" you wonder out loud. Is he talking about Yoongi? Well, Yoongi did tell you a couple of things. But you don't know how much of them you are going to reveal to Jungkook. Yoongi did make some speculations about his feelings, and even though you have a positive feeling, you are not going to try your luck right now. Especially when he is so close.
"Did he tell you anything after you kind of stormed off from the bar?" His voice is meek, unsure, and you grimace when he mentions your moment of weakness – your childish action of storming off during a conversation.
"No." You shrug and quickly add, "and I'm so sorry for storming off earlier. I was a little-"
"Y/N." He takes your hand and you pause,"it's okay, don't think about it." His hold on your wrist is firm but kind, as if afraid you will run away, again but also not trying to hurt you.
He shakes his head when you fail to say anything but just look at him. "Come here."
And you walk into his arms without hesitancy, like a moth drawn to a flame. He wraps his arms around you and you sigh.
"You don't need to apologize for feeling," he whispers, "but you also don't need to feel like you have to hide from me."
You know that. And you feel relieved now that he has said that.
"I was just feeling too much," you mumble into his chest.
"I know. I was too. And it's okay."
You laugh at that, genuinely. But not in a way that says that he joked, in a way that says you understand what he means. You don’t even think about how suddenly you both resonate with each other on so many levels.
A gust of wind blows your hair and you shiver a bit, despite being in his arms.
“Wanna go somewhere else?” he asks and you wonder out a loud ‘Where?’
“Just, one of my favorite places. I am sure you will love it too.”
And you have no reason to say no to him. So you follow him, yet again, giddily.
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It’s colder. The raised area allows the wind to affect you more. But you don’t care when you can see almost the whole city beneath you. Especially with Jungkook beside you bathed in moonlight, holding your hand.
He booked a cab from the street you both were on. And he never let go of your hand. The whole ride was quiet – you didn’t even ask him where exactly you were heading to, and still you knew you were going to love it. Because the easy smile and the glimmer in his eyes said so. His hand firm but gentle in yours said so. And you had no reason to not trust him.
“Wow.” 
“Isn’t it really beautiful?” he asks you excitedly, as he looks at you with unadulterated joy.
It is. You can see specks of light dancing in front of your eyes, the Christmas lights. There is no snow – but you think it wouldn't have even survived in front of the warmth you are feeling. 
“You come here often?”
“Naah. I don't usually get time to. In college I used to, though. Nowadays I only come here when I feel way too overwhelmed by everything.” He smiles and you do too. ”This place can clear your head quickly, and make you feel like you are on top of the world.”
“Well, I don't know about the top of the world, but it's definitely on top of the city.” He laughs and squeezes your hand, as if you said the most hilarious thing ever.
You know you should talk with him. It's not a fairytale, that suddenly you kissed and now you will live happily ever after. You need to settle down your previous grudges and talk, discuss your feelings a lot more. It's not college all over again, where you will communicate just for the namesake, nor are your feelings for him so trivial that you can just let it go. 
"Jungkook."
"Yeah, we need to talk." He smiles at you and your eyes widen slightly.
"What are you, a psychic?"
He just laughs and leads you to a circular brick structure built around some small plants that you notice just now. They are the apt height for you to sit on them like benches, and you realize this place is not that much of a secret. Still, it counts.
You sit down side by side, with your shoulders grazing each other's. And even though there is a lot of space, none of you shift.
"I am genuinely sorry for all the times I annoyed you so much that you felt like you needed to walk away," he begins with his eyes trained on his fingers in his lap.
You shake your head at this. It feels ridiculous to you to sit here and listen to him drone out apologies – as if it's his fault or something. 
"I think we should just sit down one day and say sorry to each other, because even I have a lot to apologize for."
He laughs and your shoulders slump with relief at the fact that he doesn't deny your words – that even you have a lot to apologize for. 
You think you are a little tipsy. And the red dust on Jungkook's cheeks tells you that he is more tipsy than you. You wouldn't be surprised if he was, especially after the one too many drinks he was having at the bar, while you were dancing with Yoongi. That thought takes you back to the moment you bickered with Jungkook at the bar, and stormed off. Even though he said it was okay, you know that was wrong of you.
"I, you are not my problem, Jungkook."
"Huh?"
He looks at you with big doe eyes, and you think how easy it is for you to drown in them. The moonlight reflects off his face in glowing beams, and the stars find themselves in his eyes. His lips are set in a confused frown, and the red dust on his cheeks seem to increase when he locks eyes with you.
"At the bar, when I said you were my problem. I was in a rage, because Yoongi said some things. And," you pause, realizing you are rambling and that it's ridiculous for you to explain yourself like this, "and there's no excuse for it, yeah. I am sorry." You sigh as you end, not being able to look him in the eyes.
You expect him to say how hurt he felt, or maybe just brush it off with an off-handed comment.
What you don't expect him to do, is take your clammy hand in his and interlock his fingers with yours. 
"Y/N. Look at me." He tugs you by your hand and you will yourself to look him in the face.
"What did you say just now about apologizing?"
"That we will sit down one day-"
"Yes, one day. And today's not the day. So stop apologizing for hurting me, when I wasn't even hurt."
You furrow your eyebrows.
"You weren’t hurt?"
He shakes his head with a laugh and raises his free hand to your face. Your breath hitches when he tucks a stray hair behind your ear. Oh my god, you could melt at the way his touch leaves a fire in its wake. His fingers linger on your neck, and he doesn't pull his hand away when he speaks.
"I know how snippy you can get when you are frustrated."
That makes you laugh.
"You know me, huh?" you ask slyly, as if this is the moment for you to be sly.
"Well, I know a lot about you." 
"What are you, a stalker?" you gasp.
"Yeah," he dryly replies and you exhale a snort.
His hand still lingers at your nape. And you belatedly realize that the hair on your neck is standing, as if saluting him. His eyes dart between yours and your lips, and you wonder if he will lean down. But then the hand at your nape moves around your form, and he pulls you in by your shoulder.
You stiffen for half a second, but then easily lean into him, laying your head on his shoulder as his fingers dance across your arm lightly.
You can feel the warmth from him, and it makes you forget that you both are practically sitting out in the dead of winter, at night. You wonder if by some miracle you can stretch this moment to last forever, not wanting to leave his side, and the comforting peace of mind you get.
"So, how was the party?"
His question takes you off-guard.
"Umm, good?" you say confusingly. You understand he is just trying to break into a conversation, but really?
"Yeah. I am sorry for being a dick with the whole Yoongi thing before. I know you like him." He sighs and you sit up straight.
"Wait a minute. I don't like him," you say, because you really don't. Who is feeding him these lies? Mina, that fucker.
"Huh? You don't?"
"Honey, everyone and their mama knows how big of an asshole he is. I do not like him, okay." You laugh and you think you feel his shoulder sag with what you think is relief.
"I thought you were into assholes," he comments, slyly, and you decide to play along.
"Well, you are an asshole."
"Yeah, but are you into me?"
At that, you pause, and look up at him. He has an easy grin on his face, which says that he is also just playing along. You are not sure how honest you should be, but it's also high time now. You look back at the sky, and lay your head against his shoulder again as you drawl out a lazy-
"Yeah."
He suddenly sits up straight, and you stumble but catch yourself at the last moment.
"What?"
You look at him, holding back your smile.
"What?"
"You, you are into me?"
His eyes are wide like saucers and you think you see the faint citylights in them. It's beautiful how his lips form a confused pout, and his head nods at you.
"Yes." You laugh, and a smile breaks out on his face. His hands find yours and he holds them in a gentle grasp.
"Do you, do you really like me?"
"Yes, Jungkook."
"Oh my god, come here." He tugs at your hand and pulls you into him, again. You gladly rush into his arms and this time, lay your head on his chest, listening to his heart. You feel giddy, as if you are confessing to your first crush and he has just said that yes, he likes you too.
"I feel like I am the happiest man right now." You blush against his chest and he holds you tighter.
"So do I understand that you like me back too?"
"Of fucking course. If it wasn't obvious already, then." He laughs and you think you can melt in the sound, drowning yourself in the sweet honey ringing of his voice and the joy spilling from it. You know it was obvious – at least to some extent. Okay well, at least after someone pointed it out to you. And that gave you the confidence to open up to him. Or else you would have drowned in your thoughts instead of him.
His lips brush your hair and you sigh at the touch, closing your eyes at the tender feeling. You want the moment to stretch forever. The moon gracing you with its presence and the relief that you are finally beside him, in his arms, with nothing to bother you.
"I love you."
It is so sudden that you forget how to breathe, going still. His words are muffled by your hair, but you hear them nonetheless, when you can even hear him breathing. Somewhere, you knew this was coming. Because everyone, every sign, every feeling led you to believe it. And even though you are glad the intuition was right, you don't fucking know what to do now.
You take your head off his chest and look up at him. Just before you open your mouth to say anything, he rubs his hand on your arm, trying to calm you down. As if he felt the inner turmoil rising inside you.
"Shh. I know you're not there yet, and it's okay. Even if you'll never get there, I am content with how it is right now." He shouldn't be. After all this time, why is he still ready to give himself and his feelings up, for you?
"Jungkook-"
"I know. But, I couldn't stop myself from saying it. And I understand if you walk away."
"Shut up, I am not walking away," you tell him, rather firmly and you feel when his shoulders sag with relief, even though he doesn't let it show on his face. You snuggle into him once more, this time kissing his heart softly through the shirt.
"Why would you say something like that? Why would you say that you will be okay if I never get there?" you mumble and he rests his cheek on your hair.
"Because, being someone to you is better than being no one."
Oh, your heart. Your poor little heart. It can't take the pain, the longing that you can feel radiating from him. You feel like you could cry at his words, because how can you be so oblivious to his thoughts? You wish to tell him something, anything that can tell him that you are almost there too. That this time around, he won't be no one to you, he'll be everything to you.
"I, I am almost there too-"
"Love, I don't need to know if you are almost there or not. I need to know if you are here, here with me. Are you?" The name makes your heart do somersaults, but you compose yourself to give him a reply.
"Yes. Yes I am here with you."
"Well, then I don't want anything else." He laughs and you feel yourself calm down at the voice. It's just a matter of time, you think. You can't afford to hurt him anymore, and you know you won't. You are glad you are here with him. It's meaningless to fret over what will happen, rather than focusing on what's happening.
"I think we have someone to thank," he jokes and you roll your eyes.
"If it's Yoongi, then I'm not talking to him."
"Valid, but you know he helped."
That he did. If not for him, you would have been sulking in some corner, still at that party.
"We'll see what we do."
"Okay, boss. As you say." He laughs and you hit his chest.
"Shut up."
"Maybe you should tell him how you had a crush on him. Wouldn't it be hilarious?"
"Jungkook, I swear to god, if you don't shut up-"
And that's how you bicker into the night, with love and a lot of jokes. With a promise to be together, sealed by kissing in the moonlight.
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taglist : @nuniah @jinsquishes @jeonkookiesworld @sailoryooons @jjkeverlast @aliimac @gimmethatagustd @namjoonwhoresworld @apotatomashedbybts @synnfulqt @saweetspoiled @chimchimmarie @sugababylove84 @axigailxo @yoongukie-ff @instabull @graycosco @wobblewobble822 @jungkooksseuphoria @kalea10 @yoongimarryme3
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feedback, reblogs and comments are highly appreciated so please let me know your thoughts :)))
also, end notes : i am astronomically late for this one, three months late for christmas! but I'm finally here, after all the stuff going on with me hehe! maybe I'll write a drabble for these two later? where the reader also confesses her feelings? all domestic haha. let's see! but thankyou so much for reading it! any kind of feedback will be immensely appreciated :D
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© sugarwithtea. all works belong to me. do not repost.
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mikuni14 · 3 months
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Last Twilight - Ep 12
I really gave this series a chance, I honestly sat down for this episode thinking, ok, maybe they will save this dumpster fire that was the finale of the previous ep. I really WANTED to like it.
The series went for my throat literally in the first minute 😀 After that everything was more or less torture. Almost every scene, every word felt like it was written specifically against me 😆
Let's start with a nice scene of a smiling Day saying coachy, positive bullshit suggesting that he pulled himself up by his bootstraps, and wasn't literally dragged out of the stagnation and depression by Mhok. A montage of scenes of Day thriving. All of this thanks to himself!
And then Mhok arrives, cue the romantic Halmark escalator scene and………… ……………………. ……………….. Mhok and Day slip into their old shoes, acting exactly like they did after their first kiss scene LMAOOOO they literally went back in time to this episode, Mhok flirts, Day is skittish. Everything that happened is pointless. They act like the 3 YEARS (!!!!) apart, or that horrible scene, or even the fact that Day fucking blocked Mhok didn't exist.
This whole episode killed me because it made it seem like Day was the victim of something really bad and Mhok was the bad guy, like it was all because of him, like he had done something terrible to Day. When Day asks his mother if he can give Mhok a chance because he might do "the same thing again", it sounds like Mhok was beating him or cheating on him????? Mhok thanking for the breakup????????? Mhok doing emotional labor again and winning over Day, while Day pushes him away (but not really) and is blushing and skittish and just takes the attention given to him was a literal repeat of the past and actively made me feel upset, for me it was humiliating to see Mhok like that.
And what's interesting - Mhok after his return is exactly the same, he behaves exactly the same, he is "overprotective" again. But now, Day and the plot are ok with it? 🤔
And this wedding, which somehow was about Day anyway. Like everything. (Night and Porjai in the future: remember our wedding? oh yes, that event when we took DAY to the airport and when DAY had his eye surgery? 😆)
Also, please leave the weddings, the profound speeches, the dramatic scenes, the tearjerkers, the airport runs, and the sudden phone calls about available transplants to the professionals. Soap operas do it so much better, so just… leave it. I can cry my eyes out at these scenes during Bollywood movies because they know how to do it. In Last Twilight I don't know where to hide because of embarrassment.
Day getting his sight back? I'm for it! It wasn't a miracle, just a medical procedure. Why would they deny him that? Especially since medicine could help in his case. But again, it's not about what happened, it's about HOW it happened, it's about the execution (which is also my main complaint about the scene from the previous episode). It was just melodramatic and crammed into the moment to force an emotional response from the audience. And did you notice how flat the scene when Day sees fell? "I can see!" haha, Porjai is pretty, end of the scene. Like???? The series told a certain story and from a narrative point of view, Day's regaining his sight at that moment and in such a way was artificial, so it does not give any satisfaction or joy in the fact that a blind person can see again - I was embarrassed by how cringe and saccharine this scene is. Not to mention the beginning of the episode contradicted the ending of the episode! The story must hold together, it must be coherent, the series should have a central, main idea. Last Twilight doesn't have that, it lost it 2 episodes ago, and the saccharine ending of this show was just a soap opera nail in the coffin.
tl;dr Mhok and Day are back in the past. Despite the loud speeches about development, growing and having a beautiful life despite adversities, the series made sure that the characters end it pretty much the same, in perfect circumstances, without the slightest cloud in their perfect sky 😀
The best things about this series are:
Mhok, my golden boy
Night without hesitation or making a big deal out of it, calling Porjai's baby his. I am a sucker for men who don't care whether their child is his blood. Night and Ha Do Young from The Glory, unconditionally loving their children regardless of whether they are their biological parents -> 💯💯💯
Right now, I'm not even angry, I don't even have any particular negative feelings. I just… I watched the whole episode like that:
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i need stone with a dilf. just a rich ass old man
Well, technically Stone is with the Older!Neighbor in one of the AUs (I hc all of my Reader drabbles, OC & 141 ones, as alternate universes so that they can all function without overlapping with each other 'cause we want to see the OCs with multiple different pairings) but that Reader isn't rich or a DILF.
I can't see Stone with someone who is rich, simply because that man is very minimalistic and tech-averse. The man doesn't have a TV or a phone because he wants to stay technology-free as much as he can while being a soldier. He drives a beat-up Jeep because it works (still don't know how, considering he rarely uses it) and he doesn't see the need to get any of the newer models. The only thing rich!Reader would be able to give him are astrology books, medical books, and vinyl records of Bollywood movie soundtracks.
That being said, DILF!Reader could totally be a thing. Stone is cold and stoic when you first meet him, so he probably shouldn't meet your kid(s) until after he's warmed up to you, but he is step-father material. I mean, he's blunt which might make the younger kids cry, but he'll play with them. He doesn't care if he has to sit in a chair meant for children to have a tea party with them, he'll do it if they ask.
I can totally see him buying a ton of parenting books because God knows he did not have the best parents and thus no good parenting examples to reference. He'll try his best though and will listen to your advice. And he's so gentle with the kids, holding them tight but not too tight, just enough for his hold on them to be secure.
Fun fact, there was a version of Stone in my head who had gotten pregnant when he was sixteen (it's a whole thing) and had a daughter who was the only one who saw his soft side. He gives girl dad vibes.
Please ask me more about Stone and his daughter, I have so much to say.
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ramcharantitties · 2 months
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Other Woman, part 6
S/n: since I'm back from stalking charan's insta, here's the fic. If this was a Bollywood movie there'd def be a song here. Also some smut hints in this fic, nothing descriptive.
Y/n did drink with her friends, in parties or meet ups. But she knew how to control her self, to not get absolutely drunk. Living with Ram deprived her of many luxuries, and alcohol was one of them. Ram never had alcohol, and even if he wouldn't mind, Y/n automatically left it too. Somehow that wasn't the case tonight. You have already downed a whole bottle of wine, sitting in a chair silently. The New year's party was going just fine, but the events that unfolded earlier in front of you left you anxious.
You didn't even want to leave the market, but you couldn't find the matching thread colour to sew your blouse there so you had to. By the last shop, a side glance of someone caught you off guard. You recognised your husband talking to a woman, whose face you couldn't see, her head veiled from the shawl. You partially hid nearby, watching them. You could only figure out Ram explaining something to her, his hand movements elaborate. The woman grabbed his arm, the stark contrast of colour raising your eyebrows. It was a white woman. Ram pulled out a small box from his pocket and opened it. It looked like one of the jewellery boxes that carried a ring.
You didn't know what the conversation was, or if it was in your favour or not. But you had to save yourself, so you left. Maybe because you couldn't bear to watch it anymore. You knew who the woman was, obviously, the home wrecker of your life, but the fact your husband was still talking to her after everything that happened? No. You don't know the whole story. Ram wouldn't do that again. He did make a mistake, yes, but what if things were different this time? What if it wasn't her either? But what if it was. What if Ram bought a ring for her and he planned to elope with her. But he said he loved you and he would never leave you. Then again, he said that after your marriage and did cheat. You didn't know your tears made their way down to your chin by the time you reached home. You opened the gates, and sat on your bed, keeping your tote bag by the bed frame. You wiped your tears from the back of your hand. Taking a deep breath, you reminded yourself that Ram wouldn't do anything like that again, and you didn't know exactly either. You decided to talk to him after the new year party.
When Ram saw you ready for the party, the net white saree with small roses embroidered on it, hair in a bun with your baby hair and fringes falling forward, red lips and dark kohl lines with a pink blush on cheeks- Ram decided to finally propose to you after the party. He glanced at your finger, the old, cheap gold ring that you wore with a haste back then. You were so happy to be married to him that you didn't bother to make demands. Ram wondered how tough that would have been for you, for someone who had men swarming and lived with a life of princess treatment till an extent.
Ram did notice, that almost in the first hour of the party, you were drunk out of your wits. You laughed loudly, falling on your girlfriends, patting their arms. He liked the scene, the carefree y/n, but he also didn't understand why you would get so drunk. After some time, you sat alone, far away in a chair, quietly. The reruns of the scene you witnessed outside the market flashed across your mind, when you saw Ram making his way to you. "Y/n, are you okay?" He asked, kneeling close to you. You stared at him, blankly. The red lipstick has vanished, stuck to the empty glass next to you. "Did you think that when you slept with her?" The question left Ram wide eyed and stunned. He gaped, and swallowed. He was speechless. You realized Ram wouldn't answer. You looked away, your eyes heavy.
Ram supported you when you stood up, ready to leave the party. His arm was around your waist, as your sleepy head tried to pry your eyes open. You bid goodbye, making your way to your home. Around 20 minutes later, Ram unlocked the gates, opening the door wide for you to come in. You dragged yourself, taking your shoes off and plopping on the diwan in the living room. You were tired. "You'll get cold, come in" Ram tapped your shoulder, taking off his coat. He knew better than to propose right now, you weren't even able to form a sentence. You wanted to ask him about the early afternoon too, but you physically couldn't. Ram sighed, hooking his arms under you and picking your body up, carrying you inside and laying you down on the bed. Ram took off his suspenders, uncuffing his sleeves. You picked yourself up, leaning by the bed frame. Ram took his shirt out of trousers, taking it off. He folded it neatly, placing it on the chair, then sat on the bed next to you, taking off his socks. Still in his trousers he splayed on the bed next to you, sighing. Today was tiring. He looked at you, staring at him all the time as he undressed. Ram realised that you weren't sleeping in the same room. He got up again, muttering a sorry, and started leaving the room when you held onto his wrist.
Ram looked down at your hand, and then in your drunk eyes. You grabbed his chain, pulling him on top of you as you laid down on the bed. Ram hesitated. You were not thinking straight- a bottle of wine doesn't make anyone think straight. "Y/n, no" he muttered. "Why, you can't sleep with your own wife now?" Your words sent him over the edge. Ram climbed over you, your chest heaving. "Why do you think that?" He muttered close to your ear. Ram traced his nose down your neck, inhaling your sweet scent. "I missed you" you whispered in his ear, your hands in his hair. Ram peppered kisses down the side of your neck, your collarbone, his hands clasping yours above your body.
The last time you both were intimate was more than 6 months ago, and you didn't have a speck of that relief in the last 6 months again. You were easily sensitive, moaning at every touch and hissing at every bite. Ram unravelled you, the net finding its place away from your body on the bed. There was not a single place Ram didn't leave a mark on your skin, he missed your presence, your body, your everything. He strived to give you the best, better than he ever had, to show that he is just yours and only yours. He missed his name rolling off your lips with such pleasure. Ram slept with you in the same bed, with all the innocence, after months of heart ache. He couldn't afford to let you go now, his arms tight and firm around you. You breathed the same air, naked under the blankets. Ram and you finally slept in peace after a long time, in each other's arms.
Waking up to the sound of the tipper tapper outside, you noticed it was raining. Rain in the winter was the worst, it dropped the temperature, making life even more miserable. You loved rain, but never in the winter. Cramps resonated in your thighs and arms when you pulled yourself away from Ram. It has been so long, your body couldn't take it. Your head pounded from all the drinking. Ram slept soundly, his bare chest exposed, his arms wide away. You covered him with blanket, scared he will get sick. You slipped on your blouse and wrapped a homely saree, wearing a sweater and a shawl. It was too cold. You freshened up, making tea. You didn't get to talk to Ram about that woman yesterday, but after last night, it was clear that he wouldn't leave you again. He promised that much for sure. You carried a tray of tea in your bedroom, keeping it on the bedside. Ram was still asleep. Running a hand through his hair, you stared at his perfect eyes. Ram emitted a husky voice. "Sarla, nahi" his voice trailed off, going back to sleep.
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tagging: @yehsahihai @vijayasena @nerdreader @ramayantika @chaanv
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nicolos · 9 months
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rocky aur rani thoughts
it wasn't at all what i expected actually? like I'm not sure what I expected but it wasn't that
rani chatterjee let me raid your wardrobe
they really just promoted tum kya mile and jhumka because there were like no other really memorable songs--
I sound a bit mean but I had a blast, I laughed a lot, did tear up at least once, and didn't want to pull up 2048 at any time during the film
(spoilers under the cut)
the film had some real 2011 style feminism moments mixed in with more genuine things? the interview at the start made me want to die but there were some almost - ALMOST - coherent points in there
bollywood is not the place to make statements about fat shaming etc etc but there was almost smth valid in seeing any jokes about what whatshername ate clearly coming from ...people were not supposed to like?
rocky and rani were actually quite sweet, despite the ...extraness
i think the film kind of rolled over this as rocky was supposed to be wealthy, but there's a great deal of elitism in the sort of attitude Rani and her family have towards Rocky. It makes me wonder what this film would be if he didn't ... colour coordinate his cars to his clothes and live in a replica whitehouse. like on one hand it's arguably his wealth that makes him able to be the way he is, but on the other hand, the traditional/modern divide that they were showing is typically also a class divide. there's no reason for rockys english to not be good as he is now - and nothing apart from personal taste and "traditionalism" for them to critique, even though rocky isn't actually that traditional in comparison to his family, and even if he was, they - esp at the start - didn't know that
on the other hand I don't know a lot of Bengali people or a lot of Punjabi people so it may just be like a culture shock thing they're going for. idk. i understand it, i just think it's a little bit of a miss for a genuine criticism on their laughing at him
the grandparents element was funny lmao. like what's going on THERE. but it was almost kind of sweet, too, the way they just ...liked spending time together I guess
keh diya na... bas keh diya
^ half the cinema actually echoed this line with her. icons only
the film did pretty often pit men against men and women against women. this worked! when alia or her mom were yelling at men... this worked a little bit less? idk. i think sometimes it ends up feeling a bit mouthpiecey, and some of it was weirdly phrased and ...strongly delivered, to say the least. i understand that they're both from an environment in which they feel safe voicing their opinion, but I was nonetheless going - would someone actually say that? so openly? so maybe that's on me
everything about the alias dad storyline was just chefs kiss
i do think rockys relationship w his mom and sister needed a bit of work for the big fight scene to work. it sounds weird to say since so much of the film was abt the randhawas but ranveers mom's dynamics w everyone were a bit underdone
the guy playing young granddad was so hot. hotter than the real actor actually was back then tbh
all I could think during the ranveer dance routine was how much time did it take him to learn that dbdndndjdjf but that was excellent
idk. i think in some senses the scale of the movie interfered with its effectiveness, but I don't want it to be any smaller in the ayushmann khurana sense, if that...makes sense? idk. it did feel very kjo production, and I like that about it
tum kya mileeeee,,,, tum kya mileeeee,,,, hum na rahe hummmmm,,,, tum kya mileeeeee
ranis "i am speaking" was hot though the whole of that non-confrontation made me want to yell, though maybe because it was happening in public
SPEAKING OF when she crashes her car into his in the middle of a four lane road and then they just fucking stand there and talk and kiss for 10 minutes and all the other cars just go around....lmaoooooooo
still think the more obvious solution was for them both to move out of their family homes but ok
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philtstone · 3 months
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Eowyn/Faramir, 22
painstakingly continuing my spotify wrapped prompts with yet another bollywood entry from one of my favourite movies #22, "Ankhon Mein Teri" from Om Shanti Om along with you / some light has come anyway, this is my answer to the question, "was their great hobbit cacophany post-kiss on the ramparts?" but in hippie camp counselor au
Eowyn’s hospital room has a very large window that looks out into the darkened waiting room. When she wakes up from her doze, which she was partaking in for lack of anything better to do, her head is turned the other way — and so it is that the first thing she sees in front of her is Faramir.
He is sitting in her bed, right beside her in fact, absorbed in a book. He appears to be wearing borrowed pajamas. Eowyn can feel the warmth from his leg against hers. She blinks a few times to make sure she is not dreaming (not that she has had dreams about Faramir in her bed), and it is then that she is struck by the soreness in her hand and shoulder, and quite honestly much of the rest of her as well.
Oh, right. Their valiant protest in front of the EPA building. Eowyn hadn’t expected to be shoved quite so hard by that SWAT officer, but at least Merry caught it all on video. And she got a great punch in before falling with such indignity on her now very broken arm. She wonders if Merry got that on video too; it’d be useful in the event anyone tries to arrest her for assault.
A large white cast covers her whole right forearm. It isn’t particularly ugly, but it is very empty in its clean whiteness, and looking at it leaves a queer disembodied feeling in the pit of Eowyn's stomach, so she goes back to looking at Faramir.
“What are you reading?” 
Of the many questions Eowyn has this is the first that comes to mind. In her general discombobulation the part of her that has lately been engrossed in figuring out Faramir's interests takes the wheel. Of course, it very often does that, but rarely to the point of causing incoherence, which Eowyn is sure she is exhibiting now.
Faramir, who had not noticed her waking, jumps in place.
“Oh! Eowyn!”
“Hullo,” says Eowyn.  
“How're you feeling? Should I call for the nurse? I should call for the nurse — here, I’ll call —“
She nudges his leg with hers (this at least is still entirely operational), and that shuts him up. He presses the nurse call button anyway. Eowyn ignores this and offers a pointed look at his literature of choice.
Faramir says, “Well; a philosophy primer. Gandalf gave it to me at the beginning of camp.”
“You mean like,” Eowyn's voice is much raspier than she remembers it, “as homework?”
“No. He said I might like it.” He pauses, then adds with a conviction that might have always been there, but appears a touch more at home in his mouth now, “He was right.”
The green of the borrowed pajama shirt suits him (she is sure it is borrowed, as it is too large at the shoulders — possibly it is Aragorn’s, or even Gandalf’s) and his pants have little Smurfs on them. She stops inspecting his hospital clothes and begins inspecting his face, which is turned towards hers and very earnest about it. He has a terribly comforting face, Faramir has. The overall effect is more subdued than what she’s used to (certainly Eomer’s got a talent for looking a bit shocking), as all her family members are known for both being and looking intense. Faramir is also intense, Eowyn supposes, but in a different way. He’s intense about philosophy primers and whatever poem he’s reading. He’ll make weird faces because he’s so absorbed in it all. His fair hair and eyes are familiar, of course, but the bigness of his nose is softer, his hair browner and floppier, and his facial hair patchy and mousy. He has lovely eyes, Eowyn thinks. A bit like a doe or something.
On whole he is, at this moment, a bit mesmerizing to Eowyn, who has always liked him – and it’s a good job he showed up this summer, and not last, when she was in the throes of her Most Mortifying Unrequited Crush (named thus by Eowyn and Eomer and Merry, in mutual consultation) to date – but she’s never properly thought about it because she was too worried about starting college next year. It’s odd. That doesn’t seem nearly so frightening anymore. Only it isn’t as if Eowyn’s feeling any better about things. After all, maybe she is about to be arrested for assaulting a cop. So what if her love life is marginally less pathetic, and her future plans slightly less immediately in the hands of her deeply flawed decision-making? The next time Uncle Theoden tells her she oughtn’t worry so much about The Real World and to go get her degree so she won’t be stuck with only farming as her option, she won’t have a good argument against him; The Real World has been pretty awful so far. 
Eowyn wonders if Faramir would bring his philosophy book and visit her in prison. 
She decides she should ask him. Maybe knowing the answer will make her feel better. She hasn’t managed to open her mouth halfway when the door opens and a sturdy looking nurse bustles in.
“Oh, good,” says the nurse industriously. “You’re awake. Not in too much pain are we? I don’t expect so; it was a very clean break.”
“Was it,” asks Eowyn, as her pillows are righted in a bustley sort of way and a cold metal straw is stuck into her open mouth. Her question comes out a bit garbled around the straw.
“Mmm,” the nurse eyes her significantly. Her name tag reads Ioreth in blocky penmanship and includes a little hand drawn smiley face in the corner. Eowyn wonders if she has put that there to counter her extremely brusque and straightforward manner. Don’t you worry; when I’m not shoving eco-friendly straws into your mouth, I draw my own smiley faces, actually! “You’re lucky your friend splinted it so well, or it might’ve moved around on you before the EMTs arrived. Not a medic, is he?”  
Eowyn can’t quite tell if her tone is impressed or disapproving. 
“He’s thinking of doing herbal medicine MSF,” offers Faramir a bit lamely. 
They follow the nurse’s eyes to the big windows of her hospital room, beyond which she is only now registering is a very full waiting room. It was mostly empty when Eowyn last checked, and the sight of it full makes her eyes well up at the back in a very silly and childish way. Closest to the door sits the lanky figure of Aragorn, who indeed set her broken arm and quizzed her on Twilight trivia on the way to the hospital so she wouldn’t fall asleep before being checked for a concussion. He is asleep himself now, but looking like someone does when they didn’t quite mean to doze off, slumped over sitting up with one scruffy cheek propped up against his palm. A pale-faced Frodo is tucked, sleeping more intentionally against his side, with a lumpy bit of gauze covering two of his fingers. Sitting careful guard over them (for all that they are having a friendly chat with a passing nurse and pointing animatedly to something on the familiar lavender-cased iPhone) are Arwen and Sam, who have together been wrapped once in a hospital issue blanket and a second time in Aragorn’s familiar mud-stained jacket. Eomer (whose face is a much bigger comfort than she expected) is wedged into a seat that is much too small for him and rapidly bouncing his left leg while staring determinately at the ceiling. Draped over a lone plastic chair Legolas’s cream cardigan is all that evidences him, Gimli, Merry, and Pippin (who must have taken his Super Mario backpack with him, wherever they are, as she can’t spot it); and if Eowyn listens hard enough, she can hear a man’s unfamiliar, somewhat distressed, definitely disembodied tones from further down the hallway.
While Nurse Ioreth bustles through checking her chart, Eowyn must make some kind of questioning face in Faramir’s general direction, because he says,
“Oh – that’s, um, my brother. Boromir. He came down, after – everything.” By which Eowyn, remembering it all in patchy fits and starts, realizes Faramir must mean the incident where his father flew down from upstate to loudly disown him in front of many strangers and several news reporters (Eowyn was told this all by Merry on the trip to hospital; she’d been in the midst of getting shoved for her not-entirely peaceful protesting when it happened) for squandering his potential trying to do such useless things as saving the environment, instead of securing a future for himself in this dismal and unforgiving world. 
For a Very Important Businessman, Denethor seems to have an awful lot of spare time on his hands. He spent a whole half hour elbowing his way through police and news vans and a very distressed eleven year old in the shape of Pippin Took, just to yell at his son.
“Is he alright?” asks Eowyn; the voice in the hallway seems very consternated. 
“Who,” says Faramir. “Boromir? Oh, yeah.” He fixes his glasses a bit, which are slipping down his nose, “It’s just that the possum finally bit Frodo, and then we lost it.”
“The collective cool, you mean,” says Eowyn.
“No,” says Nurse Ioreth, definitely disapproving this time. “The possum.” 
Faramir grimaces. “It was sort of my fault. That’s why Boromir’s dealing with it — I think he’s trying to make me feel better about Dad. I really am fine though. And Legolas and Gimli took Merry and Pippin to find us all food — wouldn’t it be ironic if they wound up finding the possum instead? Funny how things work though. Everyone’s sort of come together about it so it’s really hard to feel like I'm doing something wrong, no matter what my — what anyone says. I was more worried about you than anything, and Arwen made Eomer sit outside because he kept getting up and sitting back down in here and the nurse got annoyed, so I got to come sit with you instead.”
Ioreth makes a mild tsk noise over her clipboard and Eowyn blinks. It takes all of her willpower not to blurt out You were worried about me? as if that is not the standard fare between friends – camp counselors, even.
Ioreth says, “If you need more pain medication, press the button; you should be out by the end of the day, dear,” and leaves. Eowyn and Faramir watch her, and the unexpected care she takes to close the door quietly so Aragorn and Frodo don’t startle awake, go. 
“You’re okay, then,” she says, after a moment.
“Hm? Yeah, I mean – well.” He shrugs. “Dad can be a cynic if he wants. I much prefer the delusional idealism of youth.”
Faramir’s always been better at making jokes than anyone gives him credit for. Even so, Eowyn wonders if she’d count as a cynic or delusional by his count. Here she is, having mentally avoided the topic of College Next Year so determinedly all summer, insisting to herself and Uncle Theoden that she hadn’t decided a major yet because she’d rather participate in The Real World, only for that world to have immediately proven itself terrifying and she, Eowyn, unequipped to deal with it. So she is back at square one, and even less sure of herself than before.
“I’m glad,” she says, and finds she can’t look him properly in the eye but has to instead stare at her purple fingers poking out through the cast. She feels all of a sudden quite miserable, but can’t put it to words.
“It doesn’t hurt too badly, does it?”
She shrugs, like he did. “It’s a bit sore.” Like how I feel, despite how wonderful you are, she doesn’t add. It’s so sappy of her. Eomer would sigh for hours if he knew.
“We’ll get the kids to draw on it. Or Gimli. You can too, if you like.”
“Will you come visit me if I go to prison?” Eowyn asks, suddenly on the verge of tears.
“Obviously yes,” Faramir answers, quite seriously. “But Gandalf’s got all that sorted. None of us are in trouble with the law, thanks to you and Merry’s video.”
“Oh.” The realization is not as much of a relief as Eowyn expected it would be. So now she’s got to go to college next year. And actually know what she wants to do with her life. Oh indeed. 
“Which is pretty good actually,” Faramir is continuing, “because I’ve decided to switch into a BA, and I don’t think I’d have been able to do that if we were going to prison.” 
She is quiet for a long moment, chewing on her bottom lip. “Everything is very confusing,” she finally manages, in a whisper.
Then, in a way that makes the small breath at the back of Eowyn’s throat catch, Faramir’s free hand slips over the thin hospital bedding and cups itself over her cold and bruised fingers. 
“I don't think we’ll be confused forever,” he says, just as quiet as she has been, but on purpose. “I think one day, we’ll wake up, and life will be less scary than it is right now.”
Finally Eowyn turns to look at him again. “At seventeen,” she says, and her voice is a bit watery; Faramir smiles at her. A small little smile.
“Yeah.” His voice cracks with the bit of laughter in it. “At seventeen.”
Eowyn is very unintentionally staring at his mouth. Because of the smile — and also maybe him as a person. She feels a bit of her old determination return, but with much less defensiveness and also her own little smile; she leans over the philosophy primer and their held hands, and kisses Faramir on the mouth.
Her stomach is half filled with butterflies when they are interrupted by the sound of small palms pounding against glass.
“Merry! Merry! Merry look —”
“Don’t interrupt them, Pippin!”
The crow of delight is so loud, and Eomer’s leaping to his feet so sudden, that Aragorn almost falls off his chair startling awake. Eowyn watches through the large window; their movement has made the sensors in the hallway go off, and all the lights turn on. The lights in the waiting room are yellow, like sunshine, and not the dull white of a hospital she was expecting.
“I called it! I knew! I said, Faramir’s got to go sit with her ‘cause he cares so very much, you see, and it’ll make Eowyn feel better.”
“Well Eowyn's my friend first, I’m the one who told you she needed to feel better —“
“Both of you pipe down, as if the rest of us didn’t care —“
“I have a sixth sense, you know. It’s very well tuned to romance and such. Remember Gandalf’s rule about only platonic activities in the break room, on account of what I walked into on our first week of camp –”
“Pippin, I am once again begging you to stop talking.”
“Faramir! Faramir can you hear me! Is she alright, then? We got you Mexican food from the cafeteria. Well, Gimli’s the one who paid for it, but we carried over the tortilla chips –”
And by the time the door is flung open Eowyn and Faramir pounced upon by overexcited tweenagers, she is properly laughing.
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slashfuhrer · 1 month
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discovered that my bf had downloaded eternals (2021) onto the pc back in 2022 but we never watched it so I decided to give it a try now
it's been a while since i watched any superhero movies and oh my goddess i've forgotten how horrible the whole genre is
absolute braindead hogwash with identical storylines, character stereotypes, and jokes based exclusively on pop culture references (also female characters being extremely objectified even when in allegedly in positions of power) I managed 20 minutes without fast-forwarding and actually felt so sick i had to take a break, then when i returned to it I employed a lot of fast-forwarding ofc because this monstrosity is 2.5 hours long
But I'm gonna try to be as balanced as I can (i.e. barely) and enumerate the things that I actually liked:
the lesbian tension between Ajak and Thena
both leaders of the eternal group being women
the whole bollywood schtick (though it does count as a huge pop-culture-referencing joke, but it was fun nonetheless)
Druig making things creepy and gay (trademark barold acting) when the eternals find him leading his cult in the amazon
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Sumeru: a first impression, and my honest opinion
Growing up, I’ve always struggled to find representation. 
I’m a second-generation Indian diaspora, born to Australian parents, raised on Western media and Bollywood. I am dark-skinned, dark-haired, dark-eyed - the kind of Indian you don’t see in North Indian media, because fair is the beauty standard. I didn’t really have anything else to turn to, though, and I grew up despising how dark I was, to the point where I avoided the sun in the summertime in attempt to preserve my marginally fairer winter complexion. 
For a long time also, to many of my peers growing up, I was the first impression they had of Indians, and I felt in this way, everything I did had to be perfect. Even still, I feel like anything representing India as a country and culture must be perfect, because, intentionally or not, whatever image of a place someone is first exposed to, that becomes the impression people have of the country and people as a whole, and it’s immensely difficult to change that. 
So representation ultimately terrifies me. So much Western media has gotten it wrong. We were always painted as the caricature nerd-type character in Western media - I love Phineas and Ferb but look at Baljeet, or Raj from Big Bang Theory. And that was if Indians were lucky enough to be included: more often they were not, which, as a kid, is hard - you can’t really see yourself reflected in many characters on screen - someone who shares the same traits as you. 
Now, what relevance does this have to Genshin Impact? A lot, actually.
You see, Sumeru is an interesting case. I recognise the exploration music as Indian - strains of the Sitar and flute, melodies and scales characteristic of Indian music that I grew up listening to, singing and playing. Don’t get me wrong, Indian music is not a monolith by any means, there’s huge variety wherever you turn, but I recognise it. The combat music, too. Honestly, whenever they break out the Sitar it’s heartwrenchingly familiar to me. 
I also recognise the region names. They’re Sanskriti, like Gandharva Ville, Chinvat Ravine, Gandha Hill. The chapter title for this part of the Archon Quest is ‘Pages of Purana’. Even the names of the various jades you use to level up characters are derived from Sanskrit - but this is also due to Sanskriti words spanning the Dharmic religions i.e. Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and so on. Personally, I am Hindu, so of course Buddhist stuff is immediately recognisable and familiar to me as well, considering that Buddhism originated as an offshoot of Hinduism, and also began in India before it was spread down the Silk Road to take root in East Asia. 
The problem is, I don’t recognise the names. I don’t recognise the clothes. I don’t recognise the skin colour of the NPC character models. 
Now, you could make the argument that India is a very large place, and the names are very diverse. And they are, to an extent. But I know my culture, I know the kinds of names we have. I don’t recognise it. These names and clothing and whatever else are more Middle-Eastern. And therein lies the problem. To lump together various different regions and cultures and treat it as a monolith, isn’t that in itself breaking from the established tradition? Why couldn’t Sumeru have been dedicated to one region, whether that be India or the Middle East?  
And before anyone decries me for being overly sensitive or unfair, I will ask this. Why is it that Inazuma, Liyue and Mondstadt get utmost respect in the handling of their respective regions and cultures? Each region is based on one country - that in itself is immediately recognisable. The names of the characters are appropriate and, again, immediately recognisable. And don’t come at me with nonsense like arguing Enkanomiya isn’t based on anywhere, that’s wilfully obtuse and you know it.
Another thing - the complexions characteristic of both the Middle East and India are dark. Dark, as in the last shades on the cosmetic line dark, as in hair almost-black dark, as in pupils only discernable in the sunlight dark. I want to see that reflected in the kinds of characters that populate Sumeru. The little girl in me that applied ‘Fair and Lovely’ masks in the hopes that she would become fairer is hurting for that kind of representation. I want to see people that look like me populate a region with music and names familiar to me. That, to me, would be the most healing of all.
Genshin Impact is enormous. It is probably the biggest game today. This kind of representation is going to have an enormous impact on how people perceive India and Indian culture, along with Middle Eastern culture, whether they may realise it or not. I desperately want my experience of Sumeru to be positive, but I am absolutely terrified of what I might find. I have been hurt by poor representation enough times before. I'm terrified of playing and being proven right again, and that saddens me, because I love this game.
Ultimately, what I want is for people to see India and Indian culture in its full beauty, and appreciate it the way I appreciate it.  If you have time now, why not go watch a Bharatanatyam dancer or Sitar player perform, or visit a nearby temple or mosque and pay your respects, or participate in your local Diwali festival, since it’s coming up soon? After all, Indian culture isn’t just butter chicken, naan and stolen diamonds housed in the British Museum. 
That was my first impression of Sumeru, as an Indian. I hope I’m proven wrong. 
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