#has finished this humongous project

[little-cereal-draws]

Details I noticed in Nimona pt 2

In the opening narration, when we first see Gloreth in the scrolls there are words behind her that read "Salva nos" which translates to "save us." When she stabs the monster there are words that read "mori" which translates to "Death."

One of the newspapers on Ballister's innocence wall reads "Black Heart Out There"

When Nimona bangs on the tower door you can see her shadow under the door

The first time we see the circular saw in the tower it's off. Then it turns on just so Nimona can lean on it. Then it's off again

Nimona wears a black pair of glasses when she asks Ballister about the job while reading the newspaper. She drops them on the table but wears them again as an otter after the second fight at the Institute

When Ballister is screaming "Murder him, murder her, murder everyone!" Nimona sees Ambrosius first. She looks between Bal and him a few times before Bal notices

Back at their hideout, when Bal looks over the couch to see Nimona cooking, he looks around like 'uhhh...' a few times

The item Nimona classified as most deadly was a HUMONGOUS chainsaw. The chainsaw gets moved around the tower a bit but ends the movie on a top shelf in the alcove

In the top left of Nimona's updated murder wall, there's a drawing she did of a design for Ballister's arm. It's shooting fire and is labeled, "Literal firearm." Next to it is a self portrait she did

When Nimona suggests maybe there's nothing outside the wall before they go to the market, Ballister blinks and actually considers it for a second before deciding that's wrong

Nimona's right (our left) fang is bigger than the other

The sign in the subway projecting the train arrival times said that the C to Marketplace arrived in one minute, the Q to Castle Cross arrives in six minutes, and the 6 to Victory Ave. arrived in ten minutes

When Ballister tries to convince Nimona it's "easier to be a girl" during their subway ride, there's a poster behind him that says, "Put Your Faith in the Institue." I love how unsubtle they were with their subtext in this movie lol

When they go up into the subway air vents to escape Ambroisus, Nimona beats her chest once in gorilla form

The highlights in the squire's eyes are pentagons. I know ppl have done metas abt what the eye highlights mean but idk how pentagons fit into there

While trying to stuff the squire's unconscious body into their trunk, Ballister drops him. On his head

The bandage that Bal uses to heal Nimona's knee is the bottom of his cape, we see him tear it off while she's talking. Also the bandage has increasing amounts of blood on it as he wraps it. It's still not very much but it does increase the longer it's on there

After coming back to the tower from the second fight at the Institute, Nimona almost hits Bal in the face with the door but he catches it at the last second

On top of the wooden case where the Director was hiding Ballister's real sword is a huge old book. It's in a glass case that she rests her hands on while talking to "Ambrosius." Again, I love how obvious they were being with this movie; she's hiding the weapon that she used to kill, frame, and exclude people to preserve oppressive tradition under smth that looks exactly like a medieval Bible. They were not subtle lol

When "Ambrosius" dies, there's blood on his armor and the sword. Not very much but you can see it

One of the citizens watching the news about the Director's confession is an old lady. She's got a couch, a tv stand, and two framed pictures of chickens on her wall. That's it; the rest of the room, like behind the TV (which is in the middle of the room for some reason??), is completely empty. I just thought her chicken pictures were funny lol

When Bal and Ambrosius are arguing in the Antlered Serpent, Bal says, "You know what? You are so full of-" And then he gets cut off by the waiter, so we'll never get to hear him finish that sentence

Also in that scene, there's a portrait of the Queen behind Ambrosius but nothing behind Ballister. Again, they're using the environment/background to show where characters' loyalties lie

Nimona's got a little pink and white circle on the bottom of her boots. You can see it when she wakes up on the couch and when she jumps off the balcony in the Director's office. I can't get a good image of it but I'm guessing it's some kind of logo

In the flashback with Gloreth, Nimona is pretty shy and reserved until she can use her shapeshifting. Then she's chatty, she's fully engaged in the games, and she just looks so much happier. She knew she could trust Gloreth and wasn't worried about hiding a key part of her identity. She shapeshifted and then she was free (ignore me crying)

When Nimona turns into the big shadow monster at the climax, the initial transformation destroys the well where she met Gloreth. I'm sure there's some symbolism in there but I'm leaving that for someone else to figure out lol

When Todd crashed his hoverscooter, he went all the way through the billboard. I thought he just hit it but no, he made a giant hole

When Ballister shows up to the city for the final sequence, the "A New Era of Heros" billboard is burning behind his right (our left) shoulder. Again there's probably symbolism in there but I'm leaving it to someone else

When Bal's sword hits the ground after he drops it off Gloreth's statue, it turns off. It's the first time in the movie where it hasn't been glowing. It really drove home that he's done with the Institute. He's not carrying it, it's not even on. He's helping Nimona

Ambrosius tries to carry an unconscious/severely injured person off the wall as Nimona's flying at it but he puts the person's full weight on his injured shoulder. Bc he's big brain like that

The scene where Bal and Ambrosius kiss is actually on top of the wall. Maybe that was obvious, but it took me forever to realize. They've turned it into a park and have made it accessible to the public. Also it looks over the entire Kingdom and it's HUGE! I've seen people worrying about how they fit all those people in the walls but it's actually ginormous

pt 1, pt 3, pt 4, pt 5

#nimona #nimona 2023 #nimona movie #ballister boldheart #ambrosius goldenloin #the director #the squire #todd sureblade #gloreth #queen valerin

[mx-pastelwriting]

Perfection (Part 1)

Elijah Kamski x GN! Reader

Summary: Seeing him in all of his working state, you couldn't help but interrupt your husband's questioning; after all, your son was standing in front of you.

Warnings: Fluff, Established Relationship, Bit of Angst

Part 2/Final

Riffing through the humongous closet you shared with your husband, you couldn't for the life of you find your favorite shirt. Since the news broke out about you and your husband's life work, causing an uproar, the stress started to build.

All you wanted was a real day of lazing around; no more pacing back and forth in front of the TV and hearing about anything that came up in the news. As much as Elijah tried to calm you down, seeing their faces and what people were saying made you feel guilty. Your love for them made it harder to hear them being called dangerous.

But if only you could find that stupid shirt. "Where is it?" You slammed one of the drawers filled with neatly folded clothes. "How may I be of help?" The soft voice made you turn, and the familiar blonde hair and sweet smile made you relax.

"I was looking for my shirt," you said before taking a deep breath. "It's in the first draw as per your request." She said, without wasting a second, Quickly, you looked, and she was right. "Thank you, Chloe," she nodded. "Of course, also, Mr.Kamski has started his meeting," she said before walking away.

Right, he had a meeting today, but there was nothing you had to be there for; after all, he told you that they just wanted to ask him some questions about the androids. But a quick appearance couldn't hurt. Maybe this could be the spark you needed to continue your work on the passion project you have been working on since you started making the faces for Cyberlife.

Making your way through your room, putting on your shirt, now through the warm hall of your house, coming to the door, you open it slowly, only letting your eye see through the small crack.

Elijah was in his robe standing by the window talking, but you couldn't make out anything but the hum of his voice. There was an older man off to the side, but in front of your husband was an android, his ring blue with his face still.

He looked familiar, but you couldn't put a finger on where. Before you could huddle back into your room to your bed, your legs had made up their minds to walk out from the hall to the android. His eyes followed you up until you stood in front. His eyes, nose, hair—every detail was yours. Your passion project is looking back at you.

"Conner" Your voice was shaky, his ring glowed yellow then back to blue, and his full attention was on you. Elijah's hand softly landed on your shoulder. "It's him," he spoke. "What the hell is going on here?" The older man spoke in shock and anger, looking down at his jacket; the numbers were a match.

Cyberlife must have dug through your office to find him; a wave of joy and hurt flooded your body. "You're exactly how I made you, not one change". "Wait, you made him?" The older man spoke again, but all you could focus on was Conner; his ring turned red and then yellow. "A personal project that I never got to finish, but yet here you are." Your words made his still face finally move, his eyebrows moving slightly as if he were shocked by the news.

Finally, you moved away, letting your eyes break from his, to sit on a chair. "But please continue." The air was still thick with the new information, but Elijah didn't let that stop him from doing his little test. You watched as what was technically your son held a gun to the Chloe that helped you earlier, only for him to prove even more that he was yours down to every number of his code.

A smile grew on your face, only for you to cover it with your hand. He had not shot Chloe, telling your husband he wasn't a deviant.

A lie.

Finally, he was to leave, and even after Elijah's last words, you spoke your own: "We don't make mistakes, Conner"

Part 2/Final

Hello, I hope you enjoyed if there is and grammar mistakes or misspellings sorry about that feel free to let me know in the comments, have a great day/afternoon/night!

#elijah kamski x reader #elijah kamski #detroid become human x reader #detroid become human

[mariacallous]

When turbine blades for the United States’ first offshore wind project left port in September 2023, headed for the Vineyard Wind 1 project off Massachusetts, they were traveling on a barge instead of a wind turbine installation vessel, or WTIV. These purpose-built vessels are common in other parts of the world and make the job much, much easier. A WTIV is a transportation and construction rig in one. Frequently equipped with a big crane, deployable legs, and a dynamic positioning system, WTIVs can support the installation of several humongous turbines per trip.

There are dozens of WTIVs plying the world’s waters. So, why were the Vineyard Wind 1 blades delivered on a barge? This expensive, inefficient workaround was necessary because of a century-old law known as the Jones Act.

Also known as the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, the Jones Act requires anyone transporting goods from one point in the United States to another to use an American ship. And by a modern interpretation of the old law, an offshore turbine counts as a point in the United States. The trouble is, the United States doesn’t have any WTIVs. And without the appropriate equipment, the country’s offshore wind efforts are being plagued by the need for repeated, smaller-capacity barge trips that have added costs to projects already beset by financial difficulties. Danish energy company Ørsted, for example, cited vessel delays when it canceled two planned projects off the New Jersey coast: Ocean Wind 1 and 2.

The country’s first Jones Act–compliant WTIV, the Charybdis, is currently under construction in Texas. While originally planned for completion in 2023, labor constraints have pushed the Charybdis’s launch back at least a year, possibly into 2025, says Dominion Energy, the vessel’s owner.

The Biden administration’s goal is to deploy offshore wind turbines capable of generating 30 gigawatts of power by 2030. That’s more than 2,000 turbines. To meet this target, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), part of the US Department of Energy, says there’s a need for four to six WTIVs. But as 2030 draws ever closer, the incomplete Charybdis remains the only one.

The Jones Act is tricky to navigate. For a vessel to be compliant, it must not only be built in the United States and running the country’s flag but also be owned and crewed by Americans. Consequently, US shipyards enjoy a monopoly, which allows them to demand massively inflated prices.

When finished, the 144-meter-long Charybdis will boast over 5,000 square meters of main deck area and accommodate up to 119 people, supported by on-board cabins, mess rooms, and shops, as well as a cinema, gym, and hospital. But the WTIV’s cost has climbed from US $500 million to $625 million. Meanwhile, the major shipyards in South Korea could have built a similar vessel in less time, for less money, and with a more powerful crane.

The reason for the Jones Act’s longevity, says Colin Grabow, a research fellow at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, is that while it tends to benefit only a few people and businesses, the act goes unnoticed because there are many payers sharing the increased costs.

The Jones Act is one in a string of protectionist laws—dating back to the Tariff Act of 1789—designed to bolster US marine industries. The Jones Act’s existence was meant to ensure a ready supply of ships and mariners in case of war. Its authors reasoned that protection from foreign competition would foster that.

“Your average American has no idea that the Jones Act even exists,” Grabow says. “It’s not life-changing for very many people,” he adds. But “all Americans are hurt by the Jones Act.” In this case, that’s by slowing down the United States’ ability to hit its own wind power targets.

Grabow says those most vocal about the law—the people who build, operate, or serve on compliant ships—usually want to keep it in place.

Of course, there’s more going on with the country’s slow rollout of offshore wind power than just a century-old shipping law. It took a slew of factors to sink New Jersey’s planned Ocean Wind installations, says Abraham Silverman, an expert on renewable energy at Columbia University in New York.

Ultimately, says Silverman, rising interest rates, inflation, and other macroeconomic factors caught New Jersey’s projects at their most vulnerable stage, inflating the construction costs after Ørsted had already locked in its financing.

Despite the setbacks, the potential for offshore wind power generation in the United States is massive. The NREL estimates that fixed-bottom offshore wind farms in the country could theoretically generate some 1,500 gigawatts of power—more than the United States is capable of generating today.

There’s a lot the United States can do to make its expansion into offshore wind more efficient. And that’s where the focus needs to be right now, says Matthew Shields, an engineer at NREL specializing in the economics and technology of wind energy.

“Whether we build 15 or 20 or 25 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030, that probably doesn’t move the needle that much from a climate perspective,” says Shields. But if building those first few turbines sets the country up to then build 100 or 200 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2050, he says, then that makes a difference. “If we have ironed out all these issues and we feel good about our sustainable development moving forward, to me, I think that’s a real win.”

But today, some of the offshore wind industry’s issues stem, inescapably, from the Jones Act. Those inefficiencies mean lost dollars and, perhaps more importantly in the rush toward carbon neutrality, lost time.

[northern-passage]

Please, don't worry about taking your time with updates! Your working solo on a behemoth of a project, it's normal to take a lot of time to write everything, do all the branches, test them and what not. It's humongous! And taking breaks is never a bad thing either. Neither is switching to another project when you feel like it. I think working on more than one thing helps inspiration flow in a way. Stuck on one project? Well, then switching to the other, and the inspiration may just come back for the first one in the meantime.

Anyway, good luck with both projects!

thank you!!

and i agree, i definitely think sometimes taking a break and working on something else actually helps inspire me and makes things easier when i come back to my first project. it happened when i worked on siren's call last year, too. i especially think working on this one has benefited me a lot because it's all been private and just. writing for myself. who knows if this will ever see the light of day but i've enjoyed it and it's For Me, plus it's exciting to know that i'm capable of finishing a big cohesive story, and at the end of the day, writing it will have made me a better writer and my writing for tnp will be stronger 💪😤

#it's CRAZYYYYY compiling it all into a single document and it's like. a book. wow i wrote that LOL #actually on the last chapter now. hoping to finish it this weekend :3 #then it will be tucked away in the dark for a while so i can let it marinate before i start any editing and stuff #ask #konoi-and-noir

[t0jisd0ll]

Project Z - chapter III

genre: horror, dystopia (viewer discretion advised)

Kenji Watanabe did not know what he was doing with his life. At the ripe age of seventeen, most people would have figured this out, but here he was, sitting aimlessly on a worn-down couch, trying to think about life.

He was awoken from his thoughtless trance by the sound of his phone ringing. He never bothered to change the ringtone, so it remained the default, blaring noise.

"Kenji, my man! Are you up to come down to the Chrysler? Tina has been nagging about how she wants to scale the building or something like that for about a week now. I gave in, but I'm in short supply of emotional support. Please come, bro, I'm begging-"

"Oi, quit yapping, mate; I'll be there," replied Kenji (albeit while yawning) to Matteo, his best friend for about eleven years.

"Come on, man, don't tell me you just woke up," groaned Matteo from the other side of the call.

"Gimme a few; just tell me when to come," Kenji answered, already feeling like returning to his dreamless sleep.

"Around three sounds good, I guess. I and the others already had lunch, and Alia called Myke, so get yourself here quick; you got that soldier?" Matteo questioned him playfully.

"Yessir, I'll be there!" replied Kenji, finally starting to feel a tad bit awake. "Now put down the phone, you little- " The long beep signifying that the call had been cut was heard. Kenji chuckled to himself and slowly sat up. He probably had to brush his teeth.

After about what felt like an hour or so, Kenji exited what seemed to be a dilapidated apartment, perfectly finished off with beige paint slowly peeling off the building, revealing a few cracks in the outer wall.

The walk to the nearest metro wasn't that far, plus Kenji enjoyed walking. In an era where everyone travelled along in their hoverbikes and cars, walking seemed refreshing. Just going at your own pace, not feeling rushed, and always feeling peaceful because of the surrounding nature Not that there was much left of it anyway.

After reaching the Grand Central Terminal, Kenji hopped on one of the trains that were heading towards the Chrysler Building. The trains now seemed to be much different than those before. They were known as hover trains, which travelled many metres higher than normal hover vehicles. The undersides of the trains were made of some sort of sturdy glass, so you could see the city below. These sights were usually pleasant, especially when combined with the rise or setting of the sun.

Due to the train's speed, Kenji reached the station near Chrysler in one minute flat, and he proceeded to walk towards the tall structure. Upon nearing the main gate, he saw his friends waiting for him.

"Kenji, we told you to come at three, dumbass." Alia scowled, while Tina, who was next to her, also frowned. Kenji apologised profusely, explaining that he had lost track of time while admiring the view from the hover train (which wasn't true). Alia rolled her eyes and said they would forgive him this time, but he owed them all ice cream for making them wait. They laughed and walked towards the entrance of the Chrysler building, excited for their adventure. Kenji couldn't help but glance back at the hover train station, already eager to ride it again and take in the breathtaking views.

While they all caught up for a bit, Mykel and Matteo entered the scene holding some bagels and other small snacks. "I bought some in case we get hungry; there aren't many shops here and very little activity to add to it." He said this while stuffing a bagel in his mouth.

"First of all, ew. Second of all, for all that talk about scaling this dump, how are we even going to get in?" Alia asked, glancing towards Tina.

"Honestly, I didn't think that through," Tina replied, as the five silently gazed at the seven-foot-tall barbed wire fence surrounding the humongous building.

<- previous  next ->

#writeblr #writing #orignal work #fiction #horror #zombies #virus #world war 3

[luxudus]

While i work on the story scenes in my Neo-Anthropocene project, I'll start uploading my back catalog of art for you all to enjoy

This art piece was made back in September 2021 as a contribution to that years Spectember, a month long event where you create possible outcomes for life on a weekly or daily basis. This one is aptly titled "Worlds collide"

"Earth 50 million years afterward has gone under many changes. A mass extinction occurred only a thousand years into this timeline, causing rats to be the last surviving mammals and allowing them to evolve and diversify into all the newly available niches. These new forms ranged from eusocial burrowers to large predators that adapted their incisors into serrated beaks. To bipedal browsing herbivores who used long sickle-like claws to grapple on trees, to even humongous whale-like relatives to the beaked beasts. for 40 million years, the rats have exploded in biodiversity and even surpassed their mammalian ancestors in success

However, not all things would last, and earth would face a unique threat. 45 million years later, a large artificial object, extraterrestrial in origin, crashed into North America. It released a handful of alien species onto our once lonely blue marble. Though the crash itself wasn't severe enough to rival the KT mass extinction. It did wipe out enough species for the otherworldly castaways to gain a foothold in the earth's ecosystems. The foreigners came from a cold, high gravity planet with a perfectly earth-like atmosphere. They ranged from towering scarlet trees to small leaves that grew from a network of roots, From floating planimals hovering with air sacks to flying "monopods" that flung themselves into the air with their tails. And a single species of hydraulic-muscled, "2 headed" hexapod kept as cattle by their bygone masters. They exploded into many new forms and niches, beating back native earth life like it was nothing, and prospering until every continent would look bloodstained from space as the 2 forests mixed with one another.

The scene above depicts two individuals of unrelated origins meeting each other. The mixing of native and alien forests has prompted all organisms to develop green and red coloring to blend in.

On the left is a herbivorous rodent that descended from the line of beaked monsters. Equipped with a large parrot-like beak capable of cracking seeds, hardy plants, and the occasional bone. Long ears, single digit hooves and a spring like muscular system. This skittish herbivore is capable of outrunning the many dangers of their temperate forests, escaping with any meal they can get.

On the right is a descendant of the alien cattle, now taking a predatory niche. It sports raptorial claws derived from their midsection limbs, and a serrated, asymmetrical pseudobeak. This predator slowly stalks the forests. It blends in well with it's environment with it's gray coloration and red and green stripes. It waits for the perfect time to spring at it's prey with it's hydraulic muscle powered legs and pin it down and finish it off with it's raptorial arms. But fortunately, it's "belly" is full from a recent scavenge. So as the rodent looks in fear, the predator examines with a delightful curiosity."

#speculative biology #artists on tumblr #my art #forest

[the-letter-horror-lover]

No more happy campers

WanderingPanic (orphan_account)

Summary:

Welcome to Ophrys secret garden summer camp!

Ciel Phantomhive has been dragged by his cousin and best friend to our summer camp getaway where he has to be social at least 90% of the time he’s there, but it’s not all miserable as he’s entertained by his wild and slightly sadistic bunk mate, his idiot friends and their shenanigans, his counselor trainees messy romantic lives, and an unbelievably pretty German girl staying in his cousin’s cabin.

Notes:

• Chapter song aesthetic : https://youtu.be/1x1wjGKHjBI

•Ciel’s and Lizzie’s POV for this chapter at least (probably not for the next ones)

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Chapter 1

Chapter Text

If you’d like to know why, I, Ciel Phantomhive, son of Vincent and Rachel Phantomhive, and future earl to the Funtom company, am currently sitting in a summer camp counselor’s office covered head to toe in red paint, along with around thirty other campers, then you’ll need to understand that this all seemed like a good idea at the time.

*4 weeks earlier*

“Ciel! Come on or we’ll miss orientation!” Yelled my frazzled cousin Elizabeth from the downstairs of my house.

“No! I’m not going! You and Sieglinde and Soma and Agni and Sebastian and the rest of those freaky circus foster siblings can all enjoy your little camp! I’m staying home.”

I had already made up my mind about this camp. Singing cheesy campfire songs and having to share a dorm room sized cabin with three other high school sophomore aged boys just doesn’t sound like my cup of tea. What does however is an actual cup of earl grey tea and a trashy reality TV marathon followed by a well deserved depression nap.

“You are not going to miss this camp because you’re too busy hating life!”

“Says the neurotypical.”

“CIEL!”

“NO!”

Just as I finished yelling out at Lizzie, my mother, bless her soul for having to deal with me, entered my room.

“You know Ciel... maybe it’s a good idea to go to this camp. I mean Soma is going and Lizzie is too. You may even make new friends-“

“Lizzie told me the same things, I just can’t see myself enjoying it.”

My mother sighed and placed a hand on her forehead.

“Ciel you’ll never know if you’ll never try.”

Maybe it was the solemn look on dear mother’s face, maybe it was the commercial break that popped up on my TV, or maybe it was Lizzie screaming out for me one last time that finally convinced me to go. My mother audibly gasped when I started packing a bag silently, and she got out another to speed up the process.

Lizzie forced me into a very tight hug when I got down the stairs and basically dragged me out of the house and pushed me into her brother’s car.

Edward Midford, containing the same overly cheery attitude as his sister and father, but the resting angry face of his mother. His car was like his life choices...

All over the place and generally a hot mess.

“Damn Edward when was the last time you cleaned your car?”

“Hey, Ciel! it’s not that bad!”

“There’s a coffee cup in here with mold in it.”

“Which one?”

“Exactly.”

Lizzie fake gagged at the fuzzy plastic cup and crinkled her nose up.

“Well I’m just glad I get my license in a few months so I don’t have to be in this car ever again.”

“Well I’m just excited you two are gonna finally get to experience the upperclassmen life at ole’ Ophrys!”

‘Ophrys hidden garden summer camp’ has been around since before my parents were alive. It’s a humongous summer camp for ages seven to eighteen that’s right smack dab in the middle of the forrest in a cleared out circular area turned into an ophrys apifera, honey suckle , and primrose conservatory project with greenhouses and small apiaries on the edges of the property. On the west side there’s a man made lake, the little kid cabins and the mess hall. In the center there’s the recreational area, the upper class men cabins and the nurses cabin. On the east side there’s the counselor’s housing and directory.

The lake water is freezing 95% of the time and the rest of the camp is always burning hot during due to the lack of air conditioning.

Lizzie POV>>>

I was excited about the certain ‘upperclassmen life’ scene Edward was talking about.

I’ve been going to Ophrys since I was seven and it’s my favorite time of year. I’ve always enjoyed it but I’m finally going to get to have some real fun now that I’m an incoming sophomore.

Since the camp has so many people every year, they jam pack the elementary age kids with useless arts and crafts and sports, but they basically let the high schoolers do what ever we want. Once you get to be an incoming sophomore you get to put down the macaroni necklace and pick up a styrofoam cup filled with alcoholic beverages and stay up all night a parties in your CIT’s cabin if they’re cool enough.

The CIT’s or ‘counselors in training’ are the incoming seniors at the camp who sign up to be in charge of a high school cabin for the summer. They throw the best parties, host the best bonfire nights and are extremely competitive with one another during the last week of the camp known was “free for all week.” Or as it’s known to the underclassmen as “cabin VS cabin competitions” where we play basics camp games, the only difference is that the upperclassmen all have raging winner parties, somewhat illegal bets, crazy rules, and crazy contests and initiations to be able to be in one of the games for your age group. Every year the cabin in a certain age group that has the most won competitions gets the “bragger’s gold” or as the camp director calls it “the winning trophy”. Nobody knows when it was dubbed the “bragger’s gold” but the rumor is that on the bottom of the trophy, there’s a key to a secret underground bunker in the middle of the woods off the camp grounds that’s filled with really expensive alcohol, and the winning cabin gets their CIT and junior CIT to go get a bottle for their winner party after the games.

The incoming juniors or ‘junior CIT’s’ are basically understudies for the CIT of their respective cabin, they do all the stuff the real CIT’s don’t want to, like ask the camp director for stuff or wake everyone up in morning. Soma didn’t sign up to be a junior CIT but Edward did. He’ll probably get so fed up with me by the end of the summer because I’ll be pestering him about what all he and his CIT did the whole time we’re at camp.

As we pulled into the camp grounds, the buzz of people reuniting with their friends and laughing was intoxicating to me. I rolled down my window and pulled my phone out of my pocket it to film us pulling into the entrance of the camp. As the video was about it end I flashed the camera onto Ciel, who in return , flipped off the lens.

“Whatever it’s still going on Snapchat you dang stick in the mud.”

“What do you mean ‘stick in mud’ I’m plenty fun I just didn’t want to come here.”

“You’re only fun when you’re doing something that you think you’ll enjoy.”

“Isn’t that how you’re supposed to live life?”

*3rd person POV*

The three teens stepped out of the car and Edward was immediately grabbed by a blonde guy with glasses, striking green eyes, and a pin that said ‘Ron: Junior Counselor trainee’.

The two hugged almost recklessly near the parking lot full of moving cars and then walked away laughing about something Ron had apparently said.

“Well he’s already forgot we exist.” Ciel scoffed as he leaned up against the car.

“Do you need me to hold your hand on the way to the theatre or can you manage?” Lizzie winked at him as she slowly started to saunter away.

“Oh piss off!” Ciel pushed himself off the car and tried speed walking away from her.

Once inside the theatre Ciel saw his older friend stand up in his seat to wave him and Lizzie over, where he had saved them two seats right up front with him.

“How did Soma know I was coming?”

“I told him you were while you were asleep in the car. He’s really excited and he’s going to try to get Agni to put you two in the same bunk.”

“Agni’s a CIT?”

“Oh course he is , I mean the guy is nearly perfect!”

Ciel and Lizzie scooted themselves past already seated people and once they sat down, Ciel saw a girl with curly black hair, in daisy duke shorts and an Ophrys camp hunter green souvenir tank top stand on the stage and count all the underclassmen as they filed in.

“Would you look at her! Lizzie I’m telling you, they get better looking female CIT’s every year, What was her name again?”

Lizzie jumped at the voice coming from behind her and she play slapped the gray-blonde boy standing behind her.

“Snake! Ugh you almost gave me a heart attack!”

“Sorry, I just wanted to scare you, who’s your friend with the blue eyes?”

Ciel flashed an awkward smile. Who was this guy and why was he talking to Lizzie like he’s known her forever.

“This is my cousin Ciel, pardon his awkwardness he’s not used to how fellow Pythons interact.”

“Hah it’s ok. Well then Ciel, you can just call me Snake, that’s what I’ve been called ever since I became the only guy in the python cabin who has actually ever gotten rid of one of those pesky shower snakes that pop up sometimes and keep it as a pet.”

Ciel raisedand eyebrow and looked Snake up and down.

“I also have severe eczema.” Snake scratched at a flake on his arm.

“I can see that, Snake.”

Snake returned to his seat three rows behind Lizzie, Soma and Ciel.

Soma talked to Ciel the entire time they waited for the program to start.

Ciel loved Soma, he was his best friend, but man did he talk a lot.

“Ok my happy campers let’s get started!” Yelled out a tall, pale girl with long firery red hair wearing an Ophrys tee shirt and a button that said

‘Grell: Counselor trainee’.

Two tall raven haired guys walked onto the stage, followed by Agni, the Curly black haired woman, a biracial girl with pastel purple dyed hair, a ginger guy with eyeliner on , and a girl with chocolate hair pulled into a sleek bun , wearing glasses.

One of the dark haired males pulled glasses out from his pocket and put them on. The other one whispered something to Agni, who the exited the stage and went up to the blonde guy , Ron, from earlier.

“That tall one on the right, that’s Sebastian Michaelis, one of Agni’s best companions besides me, he’s a great track runner and most of the girls swoon over him.”

Soma had leaned over to Ciel and whispered this, and then pointed to the one with glasses next to Sebastian.

“That one beside him is Claude Faustus, he’s a mega douche, but people seem to like him for some reason.”

“The black haired girl next to him is Maryann, but everyone calls her Beast because she’s the best female physical comp’ competitor, she’s also smoking hot in case you didn’t see.”

Ciel snickered at Soma, Beast was tall with smooth skin and large breasts, she was pretty, but not Ciel’s definition of ‘hot’

“The guy next to her with the eyeliner, everyone calls him Joker because he’s never being serious, Beast has been pining after him since they were thirteen but he’s too busy looking at more masculine counters if you get my drift...”

“Oh dang, poor girl has no clue does she.” Ciel fought back laughter. Surely the eyeliner must be a dead giveaway.

“Nope. Oh course you know Agni, the red haired one next to him is Grell, she’s wild with a capital W and there’s not one male CIT she hasn’t tried to get with unsuccessfully, but I’m pretty sure her junior counselor has the hots for her.”

“The one with the purple hair talking to Claude is Hannah. She’s cold blooded, but she’s got a golden heart somewhere under all that chest hahaha.”

Ciel elbowed Soma after yet another large great comment.

“The girl with the bun is Nina, she’s sassy and really smart, maybe smarter than Agni, and I think she’s the only one who can’t stand Sebastian for generally no reason.”

Soma was about to make another comment when a man wearing a dark brown suit in rectangular glasses walked onto the stage.

“Ok campers, for those of you who don’t know me I am your camp director William T. Spears.”

William was cut off by Joker cheering loudly and Beast running up and hugging him, much to his dismay, Sebastian and Agni clapped obnoxiously whilst this happened.

“Ok that is enough! I would expect better behavior from my CIT’s !”

The crowd giggled quietly.

“I though you said everyone hates that guy?” Ciel leaned over to Lizzie who smiled lightly and said,

“Yeah he’s a total bore but everyone misses him after a while because he’s just so bad and he’s only been here two years so we still heckle him from time to time.”

Ciel scoffed as William tried to resume his speech.

“This summer you will become enriched and become much more mature than when you entered. For first years this may be your first time away from home, and for seniors this is your last time in your home away from home. I’ve entrusted your CIT’s to go over the basics of cabins and competitions. Every morning you will report to the mess hall at 7:30 am if you are ages 12-18 and 8:30am if you are 7-11 years old. And dinner will be served inside the mess hall at 8pm inside for 7-11 year olds and outside for 12-18 year olds. Maryann, Sebastian you may have the floor.”

Sebastian and Beast walked up to the front of the stage. Beast took out a piece of paper from her pocket and then handed it to Sebastian, then began talking.

“Ok happy campers! My name is Maryann but you’ll call me Beast because I am a competitive beast!-“ she smiled big at the crowd and then turned to Sebastian with the note and nodded toward Hannah before refacing the crowd. Sebastian walked her to Hannah and gave her the note.

“Here we have eight different cabins for each age group here. The pythons, the tigers, the ravens, the spiders, the flying bats, the owls, the peacocks, and the doves.”

Some guys in the back started to make hissing noises and chanting,

“Pythons, pythons, house of, Pythons!”

Beast shushed them while trying not to laugh and turned to Sebastian.

“I’m going to read off your cabin names but group then age then sex ok!”

He started going down the line and sectioning off everyone by which cabin they were in. He soon got to the upperclassmen and Ciel waited for his name impatiently.

“Ok in the Pythons 15 F we have Elizabeth, welcome back girl, Sieglinde, Lucy, Rebekah, Dana, And Josie.”

“Now in for my cabin group, the Raven 15 B we have Alois, Ciel, Marcus, Marshal, Alex, and TJ.”

Ciel and Soma looked at each other. This was an outrage, Ciel’s only friend here wasn’t even in the same group as him.

Everyone was lead by their CIT to their cabins with the seven year olds first and the upperclassmen last. The boys carried their stuff across the cap grounds over to a cabin with a blue and black piece of fabric tied to the top of a piece of wood sticking out from the roof.

Ciel looked around and realized that every cabin had this piece of wood on the roof but none others had fabric on theirs.

“Ok you guys are fifteen so it’s impossible for me to tell you no one in the cabin that isn’t a raven boy or a CIT, so if you do have company keep it quiet and in your own bed. I know it sounds dumb but even my fellow seniors sometimes can’t follow these rules.”

Two of the guys snickered at Sebastian’s last comment and he smirked and turned to face them,

“You wanna know what happened just ask Claude and Hannah.”

All the guys then busted out in laughter including Ciel, who barely knew these people but could defuse it happening based on what Soma had told

him.

Maybe camp wouldn’t be so bad.

But why did Beast give Sebastian that note and why did they have fabric branding their cabin?

Chapter 2: Bunk mates, mate

Notes:

Chapter song aesthetic: https://youtu.be/ooEv1cH97HA

Chapter Text

Sebastian looked up at the cabin to try to tell them more about where they were staying, but the blue fabric caught his eye. He did a double take and kept looking back at it.

“What’s the blue and black ribbon mean?” A bleached blonde, gum smacking, boy in cheetah print Nike shorts asked.

“Um. You don’t need to worry about it just yet. But I need to talk to another CIT in just a moment. Anyway just come inside and I’ll explain that later.

The boys filed in the cabin. Immediately there was a strong appearance of honey camping vibes going on, in the front room there was a mini kitchenette and a couch with a vintage TV on a wooden stand that looked like a tree stump. On the walls were paintings of ravens and moths in various styles in various sizes. The room was decorated in black, dark reds, and grays all throughout.

“This is the front room, down that hallway are four doors that each lead to a room containing two beds, two nightstands and one window overlooking area. You can put your stuff wherever just not in the front room. There’s a bathroom if you keep going down the hallway where the beds are. I really wish I could’ve stayed to talk more but I’m going to be frank, we’ve been branded for war.”

Ciel’s eyes widened and the blonde boy swallowed his gum and then started almost maniacally laughing.

“What do you mean a war!?” He asked, the other boys looking very confused.

“Well... this camp has a long history of end of the summer competitions, but the upperclassmen take it to a new extreme. We have a point system. If you can do anything to mess with or brand or prank your rival group your assigned when the summer starts, you earn more points. The cabin with the most points gets first pick at what comps we do that year in what will thinks is the real thing.”

“So what does the fabric mean?” Ciel asked , genuinely intrigued.

“It means that the Python girls have claimed us as their main target this summer. We claim each cabin by getting our cabin color fabrics and tying them to the freshmen’s roofs as a way to claim the fresh meat.”

Sebastian smirked and all of the boys but Ciel looked slightly terrifyed.

“It’s ok though they can’t hurt us, steal from us, or damage our stuff or they’ll be disqualified from the point system completely and reported.”

The boys seemed to perk back up and then two of them began whispering about which cabin they’d get that night.

“So I’m guessing that note Beast gave you to give to Hannah was something about who was either going to brand her cabin or telling her to brand us?”

Ciel asked, catching Sebastian slightly off guard.

“Um... yes actually. I found out that Claude was going to get Agni’s cabin so I told Beast and she had me give that note to Hannah saying he was coming after her so she’d get Agni before he would.”

“Wow so she’s mad at Claude for no reason then? That’s hilarious!”

“It’s not for no reason! Claude broke the rules. We aren’t supposed to talk about who we’re gonna brand with anyone other than our cabins and juniors. Claude however told Joker and myself thinking we wouldn’t do anything.”

Ciel laughed.

“Well then I guess you better get Grell’s cabin then.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because of what you did, I’m guessing that’s the only one unclaimed considering that I can see outside my window that Nina’s has just been branded by Soma and Agni themselves.”

“That piece of-“ Sebastian looked outiside the window and then bolted out the door,

racing up to Angi who then stuck his tongue out at him.

Ciel took his bags in the first room on the left of the hallway. Plopping his stuff down on the bed and took a deep breath.

No turning back now.

“Hey bunk mate!”

Ciel turned around to see the bleached blonde gum chewer had claimed the bed next to him.

“Those other boring boys have already shaked up together so I’m left with you and your gorgeous navy blue eyes!”

“What is everyone’s obsession with my eyes today?”

“Hm?”

“Nothing just...thinking out loud.”

“Well ok then, my name is Alois Trancy!” The boy latched onto Ciel’s hand and shook it a little too hard for him liking. When Alois released his wrist Ciel held it and furrowed his brows.

“Um... I’m Ciel.”

“That’s a pretty name Ciel! Hey do you wanna sneak out tonight!?”

Is this guy serious, Ciel thought. They had only just met and this Alois guy was already asking him if they wanted to break rules.

“I’m actually a friend of Claude’s and he said that the CIT’s always throw the JCIT’s a raging party for kicking off the summer and whatever freshmen show up become their favorites.”

Ciel really wanted to go to that party, which is saying something because he hated parties.

The dramatic competitiveness of the CIT’s made him want to be involved and know about all the hot gossip straight from Sebastian’s lips, but he knew he just couldn’t go to a senior party with some dude he just met, especially one he heard about from Claude, a dirty cheater who for all he knew could’ve told him that so he could lure freshmen out to get hazed.

“I’m good but thanks.”

“K, I guess I’m going alone then, but you’re helping me get ready Ok?”

“Sure.”

An hour later Alois was wearing tight, short leather shorts and a neon purple tee shirt with a leather jacket on top. Black high top converse on his feet and sunglasses that looked expensive on his face, he was ready to go.

But the party didn’t start for another hour so he had to kill time.

“Ciel you ole’ bore please let me take you to the party!”

“Alois I already declined ok, I just don’t think its a good idea.”

“But we’re bunk mates, mate!”

“Excuse me.”

“We’re mates now! We’re gonna be so close by the end of the summer I mean we have to share a bathroom at least let me take you to a cool party so you get a decent first impression of what I am sloppy drunk.”

Ciel took a deep breath, and pictured the image of Alois drunk out of his mind.

This was something he’d pay to see.

“Ok hang on let me dressed.”

“Yay!”

Ciel wore an off white tee shirt that read “there’s no way you woke up like that.” And black ripped jeans with black timberland boots on his feet.

He ran a hand through his hair and the two boys set out to this senior party.

“So where is this party. Will would kill them if they were all out of bed after hours getting drunk.”

“Claude said that it’s off grounds near a waterfall that goes into a river with blueberry bushes around it.”

“Sounds aesthetic and very possibly fake.”

“He also included that there’s a pile of dead squirrels at the halfway mark so...”

“Sounds more plausible.”

Once Ciel spotted (and nearly vomited) at the sight of an actual pile of dead squirrel parts thy knew they were getting close, and rift around this time they saw a girl with raspberry, chin length hair running in the same direction as them.

“Hey where are you going?” Alois Yelled out earning a hand over the mouth from Ciel who then reminded him that what they were doing was against the rules.

“Sorry! Hey girl are you heading to the party as well.”

Ciel faceplamed, it seemed his new roommate was anything but inconspicuous and would definitely eventually get him into trouble.

The girl walked toward them, tripping around six times, but somehow made it up to them in one piece.

“Mar- I Beast said the party was around here didn’t she?”

The girl wore large circular glasses and had freckles dotted along her face.

“Yeah we’re headed there now.”

Ciel answer calmly. The girl seemed frazzled and Ciel knew that the last thing he needed to do was act panicked, even though he was in the middle of the woods with two complete strangers heading to a possibly fictional party.

“Hey! Meyrin it’s over here!” Ron, the JCIT from that morning Yelled out from about fifteen feet away from the three.

He sprinted out to them and then basically shoved them into a thin brush of dark bushes.

“Better late than never babe! The party almost started without you!” Meyrin blushed at his comment.

“Ronald! Stop that. You know why I’m here.”

“Ugh what’s that CIT got that I don’t! Hah I’m just joking ya babe, you know why I’m here too!”

“You certainly have a type...”

Meyrin ran a hand through her bang and Ronald rolled his eyes, then wrapped his arm around her shoulder and the two walked off to talk to a shorter JCIT with a large sun hat on and one taller one with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

Ciel turned to look at the surrounding area. Agni was standing behind a plastic pull out table severing a rose pink tinted liquid to people in y’all styrofoam cups, a blush across his face and sighted from his mouth every couple seconds it was obvious to tell he was already drunk as a skunk.

Beast was off in the corner talking to Hannah, both girls wearing matching black and gold dresses and had their hair pulled back using a back scrunchie.

Claude was right. There was a waterfall next to some blueberry bushes. What he forgot to mention was that it was a scene he had carved into a tree right under “C + H”

Alois had seemed to already have disappeared once Ciel turned back around and the more the sun went down the harder the party got.

People were hugging, laughing, vomiting, yelling, arguing, and dancing raunchily to music being played on a Bluetooth speaker hooked up to apparently Agni’s phone.

Agni was however already passed out under a tree once the party officially started.

Sebastian walked up in a button up shirt and a tie , and scanned the area for Agni.

“Oh Agni my dude... this is why I don’t let you serve drinks bud.”

He saw Agni passed out in a pool of his own vomit under a tree, while two mischievous juniors scribbled genitalia onto his forehead.

“Oh my god!”

Sebastian turned to see meyrin burst out into laughter about something Bard, the tall, smoking junior had said.

He walked over to them casually.

“Sebastian! My... best mate right here... hahaha.”

Bard was obviously drunk out of his mind and had now rested his head on Sebastian’s shoulder. The only reason he actually came to this raging drunk joke of a party was so he could help Finnian, the shorter JCIT flirt with a certain Freshman, but it looked like she hadn’t shown up and that Sebastian had yet again found himself taking care of a drunk Bard and Agni.

Another two hours of partying ensued and the Hannah climbed up on a ledge made by rocks (shakily due to the alcohol) and clapped really loudly.

“Ok! I’m am proud to announce this years JCIT’s!”

Claude and Alois cheered and Alois Yelled out something along the lines of a very slurred “Mom!” Before Hannah shushed them.

“For the owls... we have Eric and Alan! Yay! For the peacocks we have Ronald In the pythons we’ve got Paula... Yass Queen! The the ravens we have Finnian and Bard! For the spiders we have The triplets! I love you guys! In the tigers we have Meyrin! In the flying bats we’ve got Dagger! And finally but not unfortunately we have Edward for the-“

Hannah was cut of by falling off of the ledge, leading to an audible gasp from several people and laughter from others.

Ciel faceplamed for a second time that evening and when he looked up his eyes met a spur of blue green ones.

And that’s all he can remember from the rest of that night.

Chapter 3: The classic last Friday night cliche

Notes:

Chapter song aesthetic: https://youtu.be/H5NqIsnyTG8

Chapter Text

A beam of sunlight hit Ciel’s closed eyelids, forcing him to wake up.

“Ugh, What the hel-“

“Shhh!” Ciel was soon silenced by Agni’s fight over his lips. Why was Agni in his cabin? What a minute... Ciel looked around at the green and burnt orange decor in the room. This definitely wasn’t his his cabin... why was he in Agni’s?

“Ciel do you have any idea where you are right now?”

“I’m gonna say it’s your cabin.”

“Wrong... it’s the guys CIT housing.”

“Doesn’t that mean the same thing as what I just said?”

“Nope, you were inferring that you were in my cabin I’m in charge of.”

“Right, ok why am I here?”

“Do you remember anything from last night?”

“I went to a party with my weird roommate, saw Sebastian taking care of a drunk JCIT and then saw Hannah fall off the rock ledge, I can’t really remember anything after that but I’m assuming in the dark I must’ve just wandered into the wrong cabin.”

Angi scoffed at Ciel and then walked out of the cabin. He had to get to a CIT meeting that morning and he was an aspirin and a glass of water away from punching Ron and Edward in the face for graftiting his forehead last night.

Sebastian woke up in his car. Next to him in the reclined passenger seat, was Meyrin, curled into a ball with Bard’s jacket over her petite body as a blanket. Bard was sprawled out across the back seat , a beer can still in one hand. Sebastian pulled out his phone from his pocket.

20% and only ten minutes until the CIT meeting across the camp grounds. Angi was nowhere to be found and his head was pounding.

“Ugh did I drink and drive last night!?” Sebastian said, louder than he had hoped to, forgetting about the two sleeping passengers with him.

Meyrin shifted and the abruptly shot up in the seat.

“Hmmm... Hey... Claude?!”

“Nope it’s Sebastian and Baldroy thankfully.” Sebastian grabbed Meyrin’s glasses from the dashboard and handed them to her, once she put them on she looked over at Sebastian and then sighed in relief.”

“Oh thank god! I really didn’t need a repeat of last years kick off party!”

“I saw Ronald attaching himself to you until Edward and Grell showed up. I’m guessing the guy still has feelings?”

Meyrin blushed, Ronald and her had hooked up after the party last year, an event she truly regretted. Now the poor guy won’t leave her alone, and has tried to move onto Grell to try to forget her with no luck.

“We should talk about last night.”

“Oh, ok.”

“Based on these texts I’m getting from Claude’s friend Alois however it seems that after the four of us left for Waffle House last night some crazy stuff went down.”

After Agni woke up during Hannah’s speech he found Sebastian and Meyrin babysitting a wasted Bard, then suggested they blow the joint to get some cheap food, and the only place open at 1:00am is Waffle House. Agni carried Bard on his back to Sebastian’s car.

“Hey where is Finnian?” Agni asked, realized the short JCIT had vanished.

“He found that freshman girl he’s been dating for a while and they went back to the bonfire area for some alone time.” Sebastian smirked and Agni chuckled

“Didn’t know the guy had it in him.” The two busted out laughing at the notion they were going to the bonfire for something other than s’mores. Meyrin rolled her eyes and said,

“That Elizabeth girl isn’t like that you guys. They’ve been together since last year they’re the most innocent couple in the place!”

“True, but based on what we’ve heard from Claude that’s all that goes on there.”

Meyrin laughed lightly as she got into the passenger seat.

“Bard you wanna get some waffles?!” She asked in a loud, singsongey voice.

“Yeah! Waf... and some of that coffee...that sounds... Yeah!”

Meyrin smiled as she thought about Bard’s sloppily drunken actions from the previous night, then wondered what everyone else had gotten up to while they binged on food.

“What is he saying.”

“Something about Ciel Phantomhive, Finnian, dear god, Edward and some girl named... seelinde?”

“Sieglinde Sullivan! She’s in my freshman cabin. She’s German and she’s really sweet. What did she do?”

“Something about the four of them jumped into the lake, stole something from the kitchen and then got involved in a pretty heated argument with Claude, Grell, and Hannah. Then he says he doesn’t know what happened after that, Ciel and the girl ran off alone.”

“Wait I though Finny was with his girlfriend?”

“I’m guessing she was there too then.”

“No... Lizzie isn’t a partier , and she surely wouldn’t have jumped in that freezing water, would she?”

“I don’t know. Lizzie is smart, her cousin seems pretty lowkey as well but maybe they get a little crazy when they’re drunk... anyway we need to get to that meeting like ASAP.”

Beast rose up out of her comfortable spot on the couch in the girl’s CIT cabin. She shook her head to unflatten some of her curls. She was very glad the meeting was in her cabin rather than the guys. She new that because of last night there would’ve been no way she could’ve made it to it on time if it had been all the way across the camp.

She always found it ironic that they tried to separate the guys and girls CIT’s by putting them so far awa, but forgot that there are outdoor showers, parking lots, and bonfire areas that are accessible to them at basically all hours of the day.

She still had on her black party dress from last night, she knew Hannah was probably wherever Claude was this morning and Nina would be in the shower, but she knew she needed to wake up Grell. That woman could sleep through a hurricane.

She walked into Grell’s room, but no grell in sight, only a three ringed binder covered in pictures of all the CIT’s from the various years they’d been at camp or school. Most of the pictures with guys, Rell was basically groping them. Beast loved Grell but sometimes she borderline sexually harassed her favorite boys.

Beast soon realized where grell was, and she hoped she could wake her before Hannah arrived.

“Grell c’mon you’re in Hannah’s bed and she’s gonna kill you if she finds you!” Beast bounded on the door across from Grell’s actual room

Grell’s eyesight was bad as it was, but when drunk it was near blind. This wasn’t the first time she ended up in the wrong bed, but the last time Hannah had almost commit homicide, so Beast needed to act fast.

“Grell!”

“Mmm... it’s too early Mary Carebeary!”

“Please never call me that again!”

“Leave me alone!”

“Hannah’s gonna cut your hair in your sleep.”

Beast heard shuffling feet Africa the floor, and out of the room raced grell, wearing Ron’s thrasher hoodie with her cocktail dress underneath.

“Are you and Ronnie a thing now?”

“What? No! He’s my favorite junior that’s all! He’s totally got it going on for Meyrin!”

“Ok then, don’t get so defensive.”

“Shut up miss ‘I’m totally over Joker this summer’.”

“How’s about both of you shut up.”

Nina came down the stairs, wearing a casual brown, fuzzy sweatshirt and Nike shorts, hair in a towel.

“Well good morning to you too sunshine.”

“How was your party last night?”

“Maybe if you would’ve actually came you’d know Nina, Sebastian left so you wouldn’t have had to fight him like you do at every get together.”

“Grell, I only argue with him because he’s a womanizing man whore who doesn’t deserve to get all the love he gets from the rest of us CIT’s”

“He’s changed since freshman year!”

“Yeah... tell that to Paula.”

Claude and Hannah were both woken up by the laughter of a certain raven haired freshman. They were still at the party area. Quesy and with a migraine, Hannah stood up to try to find her phone and where this annoying laughter was coming from

“Are you guys ever gonna wake up or no?”

Her thick German accent only meant one thing to Hannah. It was the short girl in the red flannel from last night that tried to stop Claude from fighting Ronald.

“Ok pipsqueak what are you doing out of your cabin?”

“Your boyfriend gave me your phone when we had blackout last night, I figured you wanted it back.”

“Claude is not my boyfriend! Now give me back my phone.”

“Hmm... oh hey babe why’re you yelling?”

The dark haired freshman laughed and handed Hannah her phone.

“Don’t all the counselors have a meeting this morning?”

“Oh god she’s right! Claude! Get up we gotta run!”

“Babe it’s ok, it’s in your cabin that’s only like ten minutes away from here.”

“Don’t call me babe!”

“Why are you mad at me?”

“You should’ve done something when Grell said that to me.”

“What was I supposed to do? That short JCIT was halfway up my back and all of us were drunk!”

Hannah scoffed and started walking in the direction of her cabin.

“Oh and by the way Sieglinde, you have until that meeting is over to get back to your cabin, or I revoke your bathroom passes for the rest of the summer.”

Sieglinde’s smile faded and she began to run back to her cabin.

The scolding from the queen of ice was worth it, she was dying to tell her new friend in her cabin about the guy she’d met last night and how they jumped in the lake and raided the pantry. She was giddy and giggling about her new beau who wa s probably so intoxicated he wouldn’t even remember her name.

She didn’t care though, she knew that he seemed different, better, and more... cosmic?

Yeah, cosmic.

Ciel Phantomhive was cosmic and she could talk to him forever.

Agni was the first to arrive at the girl’s cabin. Right on time as usual.

“I’m guessing the rest of the guys haven’t showed up yet, or better yet, woken up?”

Beast sighed and took a seat on the couch, she had changed into an old Aeropostale tee shirt and a different pair of daisy duke shorts before Agni had gotten there.

“Yep. None of the juniors are here either except Alan and Eric and I’m pretty sure they're still drunk.”

Agni looked over at the two juniors, laughing at seemingly nothing , standing in the corner.

“Nah, they’re not drunk but they are high as kites.”

“Great.”

Agni turned his attention over to Nina, who avoided his gaze.

“Nina, aren’t you looking very naturally pretty this morning.” Agni flashed a sincere smile and Nina giggled in response. Grell rolled her eyes at Beast , who whispered,

“She just needed her Agni did this morning.”

The two shared a glance at the unofficial couple and then chuckled.

“Hey you two! This isn’t a show this is supposed to be a meeting!”

“Oh Nina-“ Grell walked over to her.

“No need to be such a-“

“Bitches,I’m here.”

Hannah stated as she pulled down her incredibly short gold dress and rubbed her fingers under her eyes to clean up any smudged makeup.

“Hannah darling, we have a rule in the cabin.”

“Yes Nina, and what would that be?”

“We all come back to the cabin before 5:00 am it’s not that hard. All you have to do is not fall asleep after you and Claude add a number to the teen sex percentage.”

“You wanna come over here and say that to my face Ninnie?”

Nina stepped forward, and her and Hannah were almost touch noses before she said,

“You call me that one more time and I’ll tell everyone what I found in your trash can last summer.”

“Ok! Let’s all try to get along here.”

Agni grabbed Nina by the shoulders and pulled her away from Hannah, Claude then entered the cabin and followed by all the JCIT’s except Meyrin and Bard.

“I tried to round up all these hooligans this morning, sorry I’m late.”

“Claude you passed out drunk in the woods last night. Dude. I saw you!”

Edward yelled out from across the room.

“Ok everyone hold your horses, your dad is here!”

Joker said as he entered the cabin and walked over to Beast.

“J! You weren’t even there last night and you’re still late! C’mon man!”

Joker took off his brown leather jacket and sun glasses.

“Mary I had a tradition to uphold!”

“You and Dagger and Doll staying up all night to see the sunrise and then driving out to a gas station five miles away to get chili cheese popcorn is not a tradition!”

“You used to do it with us, remember?”

Beast blushed as Joker hugged her from behind.

Sebastian, Meyrin, and Bard were the last to arrive.

“Sorry sorry sorry! We were parked in the middle of the woods because the parking lot was full and we had to stop so Bard could vomit twice!”

“Ugh it’s ok just come in the front room!”

Chapter 4: A/N

Chapter Text

I’m very sorry the first few chapters have a few spelling mistakes, I’m writing on mobile so editing is hard. I don’t think any of them are that hard to figure out what the word was supposed to be (autocorrect can be horrid sometimes) but if you get confused just comment and I’ll tell you what it was intended to say :)

Chapter 5: Can’t we all just get along?

Notes:

Chapter song aesthetic : https://youtu.be/Jge5tQr0cjA

Chapter Text

Ciel wandered back to his cabin, still very confused as to what all had happen the previous night.

It was almost 7:00am, so he didn’t have a lot of time to get answers from anybody before they had to go to the mess hall.

Surely Alois knew something. Or he at least hoped Alois knew something

Whilst walking across the grounds he noticed that now all of the cabin’s had been branded. That’s probably what the CIT meeting was about, he thought. It was all like Sebastian had said Beast’s note would’ve planned out.

Hannah got Claude’s cabin, so he had to move onto Angi’s, oblivious to the fact he’d been played by Beast, who used the note to distract Sebastian from preventing her from branding him, Angi got Nina’s cabins and Grell got Hannah’s cabin for whatever reason, leaving Sebastian with Grell’s and Nina with Joker’s and Joker’s with Beast.

It all worked out so perfectly in Beast’s favor.

Claude had no clue he’d been ratted out, Hannah was mad at Claude so she’d never suspect her, Joker won’t do anything terrible to her cabin because of their history, and everyone else is too busy with their cabin’s to suspect her.

Well played, Ciel thought.

Sieglinde has sprinted all the way over to her cabin. She was so excited to tell Lizzie about the guy she’d met. Sieglinde was never one to let her life get consumed by a crush, they either liked her or didn’t, but she had such a crazy night she couldn’t possibly wait to tell Lizzie before it became official.

She crept into the cabin and tiptoed over to Lizzie’s bed, her own empty bed right next to her’s.

“Lizzie! Lizzie wake up I have stuff to tell you!” She whisper yelled while shaking Lizzie’s body in attempts to wake her up.

“Alright! I’m up just start talking already!”

“You remember last night right?”

“Unfortunately.” Lizzie frowned at the floor and tried to wipe away the fires mascara tears on her face.

She’d broken up with her boyfriend, Finnian,last night.

“I took Finny down to the bonfire and told him it wasn’t going to work out between us.”

A single year left Lizzie’s eye, and Sieglinde wrapped her arms around her.

“I’m sorry Liz, but look on the bright side! Some of those CIT boys are pretty cute and the juniors too!”

“So are you suggesting I just forget the eight months I spent in a very serious long distance relationship for an asshead like Claude?”

“Hell no! But I am saying that we’re young! We can have fun! We can date around!”

“True, but Finnian was... he was amazing. He was sweet, he was funny, he was gentle, he was perfect!”

“So why’d you guys end it.”

“I ended it... because... I’m having conflicting feelings...”

“About what?!”

“Not about what! About a who!”

Lizzie slapped a hand over her mouth after she finished talking. Saying she had eyes for another was much scarier out loud than in her head.

“What!”

“I know it’s bad! Finny is the first guy I ever loved but I think I have feelings for someone else and it scares me that he could love me more than I could love him.”

“Who are these feelings for?”

“I’m not going to say!”

“Lizzie!”

“Sully! I am not going to say!”

“Ugh fine then.”

“So How was your wild night?”

“I met the most amazing guy! After Hannah took a tumble off this rock ledge, I started a conversation with him, we drank a lot, and I mean a lot! Then we found Alois and Edward and... Finny...”

“Ok, what did you guys do with my ex?”

“No I’m sorry it’s just weird, I had no clue you guys split he acted like everything was normal.”

“Yeah I expected that... he’s sensitive but he tends to bottle things up... ok continue.”

“So Alois was in shambles saying he’d lost something, a ring, a bracelet or something in the lake and was in tears, so we all stripped down to our underwear and jumped into the lake, Alois was the last one to go but before he jumped guess what he said!”

“What?”

“He made the whole thing up! He just wanted to trick us into jumping in the lake it was freezing! So he cannonballs in and started screaming about the cold, then my new beau and I started splashing each other and soon enough, everyone was rough housing in the lake! It was bloody brilliant!”

“So that explains the bruise on your arm.”

“Oh yeah, Ron did that. He showed up after we all jumped in and decided he wanted to join... anyway after we all got out of the lake you’ll never guess who showed up?”

“Was it Claude, because I got a strange text from Edward about Claude fighting his mate last night?”

“Yep it was Claude and Hannah, they were fine up until Grell found us and then Hannah and grell started screaming at each other about grell stealing something from and Hannah and then Ron jumps out of the lake and tell Hannah to back off of Grell and you know what Hannah does? PUSHES GRELL INTO THE WATER!”

“No way!”

“Yep, So Claude and Ron start yelling at each other and Claude threw a punch at Ron, but I jumped out and told them it wasn’t the time or place. Claude was pissed so he tried to push me back into the lake but my man grabbed my hand and we ran all the way to the mess hall.”

“Oh my god Sully!”

“I know! Once we were there I convinced him to sneak in with me and steal stuff from the pantry, and he did it! Then we climbed up on the roof and ate a lot of junk food and then just talked for like an hour and...”

“And?”

“We kissed a bit for a while.”

“Sully that’s amazing!”

“I know! I had so much fun and it’s his first year here so he doesn’t have and ole’ Ophrys baggage!”

“It’s his first time here? That’s great I could introduce him to my cousin they’d make great friends! What’s his name?”

“His name is Ciel!”

“SULLY!”

“Yeah?”

“YOU MADE OUT WITH MY COUSIN!”

“WHAT!?”

“I did what!?”

“Exactly what I just said Ciel.”

“And nobody stopped me.”

“You we’re unstoppable,mate”

“So you! My new best pal! Let me jump into a freezing lake! Almost fight a CIT! And hook up with a girl I met an hour earlier!”

“Yeah you seemed to be having fun.”

“It’s not about having fun Alois! We could’ve gotten into so much trouble what if Claude had actually got crazy? What if will found all of us?”

“Calm down! Debbie downer! You’re a lot more fun when you’re drunk I’ll tell you that much!”

Ciel rubbed the bridge of his nose. After hearing all about his cavorting from last night he realized it may not be the best idea to trust Alois. Now he needed to find this Sieglinde girl and sort out whatever he could’ve said to her last night.

Nina sighed. Another useless meeting she could’ve spent researching universities during. She was destined to be a famous designer, the only one who understood that was Agni. He was truly her best friend, but everyone thought they were a couple.

That definitely couldn’t be true as Nina was gayer than a rainbow in June and Agni was the only one she’d offici come out too yet. She knew Sebastian had his suspicions but he’d never dare push her about it.

She had crushedon the quirky, clumsy, Meyrin for quite a while, but she thought she’d finally gotten over the Bisexual redhead, but it seemed that lingering feelings were Nina’s kryptonite. It had all started when they were in 7th and 8th her at the camp. 13 year old Nina had just realized her newfound sexuality and her love of fashion in the same school year. Once she got to camp, she took Meyrin as her personal model for her clothes she designed.

One accidental brush of fingertips and Nina was gone. The usually stoic but slightly dramatic girl was head over heels, but infuriated when she realized the girl fawned over Sebastian.

It was also that that year she decided Sebastian just annoyed her beyond belief and didn’t deserve her time of day.

Quite a coincidence one could say.

The only thing discussed in that meeting was the dirty, underhanded way the CIT’s has branded one another this year, Beast saying they had no respect for tradition. Joker getting high with some JCIT’s and Grell in the back. Sebastian and Agni heckling Claude and Hannah for getting back together, much to Hannah’s annoyance, and Claude complaining, wishing he could be anywhere else because he knew he was the only one Beast was talking about.

“Can we all just agree to, from this point on, uphold all rules and traditions passed down to us when we were JCIT’s last year so our Juniors can do the same!”

“Yes, your highness.”

It took every nerve Beast had in her not to slap Claude and cause an all out war amongst the counselors.

She was sick of everything being left up to her to take are of.

Sebastian and Agni tried but they always ended up having to save the JCIT’s from getting wasted and making bad choices, Joker would much rather mess around than do anything helpful, Claude and Hannah couldn’t be bothered to do anything but scare the underclassmen, and Nina and Grell were about as useful as a boat with no oars.

Sebastian saw the concerned look on beasts face, so he whistled loudly to get everyone’s attention.

“Ok guys! We made terrible choices last night. Every single one of us. I drank and drove last night! Bard nearly got alcohol poisoning! Claude and some underclassmen almost fought! And nobody but Agni made it here on time because we’re all too wrapped up the past to sit through one meeting together.”

Everyone tried to avoid eye contact. He was right. The drama between the counselors was deeper than it appeared, even though it was just basic teenage drama. Beast hated it the most. She longed for a time when Joker and Claude could have a conversation without trying to kill each other or where Sebastian didn’t have to remind everyone that they’ve all made terrible mistakes. Sadly however it wasn’t that easy, and it was kind of Sebastian’s fault to begin with.

“I swear if I get one more dirty look from Bard or Meyrin I’m going to need you to kill me ok Doll.”

“I’d rather not.”

Lizzie satin a corner table with Sieglinde and a girl from the flying bats cabin, affectionately nicknamed Doll, her face covered in freckles by every inch and her hair, spikey and shoulder length was the color of fermented honey.

“So Sieglinde... where is this guy you Dm’d me about kat night.”

Sieglinde blushed a deep red and Lizzie smacked her head on the table.

“It’s Liz's cousin.”

Doll laughed so hard her milk from her carton came out her nose. She left to go get napkins when she ran into Ciel himself.

“Well well, speak of the devil.” Doll smirked at Ciel.

“Hello Doll, What are you going on about?”

“Your wifey is sitting at my table, with myself and Lizzie of course and she can’t stop talking about you guys’s night on the town haha.”

Doll chuckled and Ciel looked over, he could see Lizzie sitting at a table with a girl with chin length jet black hair, with turquoise dip dye at the ends.

Ciel walked over cautiously to the table with Doll. He took a seat next to Lizzie and Sieglinde avoided his gaze.

“Um... hey.”

“Hi.”

“So do you wanna talk about last night?”

“Not really. I think it’s best if we leave it on the roof.”

Sieglinde pointed to the roof of the mess hall. Where she’d had her first kiss only 9 hours earlier.

Ciel was about to say something when Joker zipped past their table and sat down.

“You guys interested in a bonfire with myself and some other chill people?”

Chapter 6: One chance

Notes:

This is becoming really cheesy my bad XD

Sorry this is shorter, I think I’m getting writers block ugh

Chapter Text

Joker was the first to leave the girls cabin once the meeting had ended.

Beast had decided that because of some of the obvious tension amongst the group, a much needed group bonding activity was needed. They settled on a bonfire that night from 7 to midnight.

They also settled on adding a new CIT rule of freshman interference. The act Claude and Hannah had played last night was enough to get them both removed if William had found out, so Agni took it upon himself to come up with the addition of “any CIT that is caught in an act of assault in any form to a JCIT or freshman of any cabin, rival or not, are to be immediately reported to Will.”

You’d think that would be common sense, but sometimes common sense wasn’t the first thing Claude used in moments of anger.

The set of rules Agni added on to are the “CIT rules and traditions” a small, handwritten booklet of standard the CIT’s had to follow, made up by past counselors.

Most of the booklet described how the point system worked, but the last two pages contain ten rules dubbed the “only rules you actually have to follow.”

1. No CIT can talk to other CIT’s about branding or pranking their rival

2. CIT’s cannot exclude their juniors from anything that isn’t exclusive to seniors

*3. Counselor meetings are to be 100% honest no matter how bad the situation gets it had gotten

4. Nobody is to drink and drive under any circumstance

5. “Snitches get stitches” is the only act of assault permitted if and only if someone has the possibility of getting kicked out

6. Don’t pee in the lake

*7. Don’t leave camp grounds for more than 23 hours.

8. Do not have sexual relations in anywhere but one of the parties involved’s bed or car.

*9. Nobody is to assault another camper, destroy property, or steal from anyone under any circumstances.

10. If a counselor breaks any of the rules above that are starred or three of the unstarred rules they are to be disqualified from the point system and reported immediately by any and all counselors who know of their actions. (If they have broken more than 4 of the unstarred or more than 1 of the started rules, rule 5 no longer applies to them)

Nina walked over to a large painting on the wall of the front room, and flipped it around to reveal a dry erase board, with all the CIT’s names listed, and took a marker and added a tally mark under Claude, and Hannah’s spots on the board, due to the fact they each broke the assault rule, and they would’ve had two each if there was anyway to confirm that they had done more than sleep in the woods.

Claude hadn’t said a single word since the new rule was mentioned, he knew better, it had only been one day and he already had a tally mark on the board. Hannah gritted her teeth, she wanted Grell dead, the fight was her fault anyway. Hannah’s favorite hoodie she’d had since she was in 7th grade went missing and she was certain Grell stole it from the laundry and had it in her pile of clothes she’d ‘borrowed’ guys and never given back. Hannah was too drunk to control her anger, Grell was never one to back down from a fight, and Claude had his own issues with Grell’s little guard dog Ron, so the whole situation was recipe for disaster.

Beast told everyone they were free to go, Sebastian caught her outside the cabin as she was walking to the mess hall, and ambushed her in questions.

“Hey, why didn’t I get a tally?”

“You didn’t break a rule...Didn’t you?”

“I told you guys I drank and drove last night, I deserve a tally on that board.”

“Listen Seb, when we pressed Mey rin and Bard they both said that everyone in the car was asleep once you and Agni traded spots for the drivers at a gas station. Agni says he never saw you drinking and you can’t remember if you drank last night or not, so even if you think you may have, I can’t just give you a tally to clear your conscience.”

Beast sighed and tried to exit the conversation , but Sebastian grabbed her shoulder,

“Beast, I know you know that nearly everyone in there deserves a tally, not just Claude and Hannah. Why are you doing this.”

Beast was mad now. When she was up at 3:00am last night trying to make sure nobody killed anyone else, he was out getting fast food while driving under the influence, and he was scolding her? Outrageous. Sometimes she understood why Nina couldn’t stand him.

“You think that being a CIT is all useless parties and drama, but it’s not. I’ve known some of these people longer than you have, and I know what type of person they’ve turned into. You and I both know that if we were all truly 100% with each other, I would’ve slit someone’s throat by now!”

Sebastian stared at her for a few seconds, and then pushed pass her as he stepped into the mess hall. Beast was someone he’d never understand, but he always hoped he ware him for more than who he was in his past years.

“You have to tell them this year Nina.”

“Agni you know that if I did I’d risk everything!”

#black butler fanfiction

[icinch]

13 Tricks to Find the Best Online Workers

New Post has been published on https://www.cinchhomebiz.com/13-tricks-to-find-the-best-online-workers/

13 Tricks to Find the Best Online Workers

You don’t need a humongous budget when you begin outsourcing, but what you do need is the knowledge of HOW to get the best online workers possible. After all, no matter how much work you outsource, it’s still your business and your reputation on the line. Not to mention the fact that better work equates to better profits, both short and long term. Doesn’t it just make sense to find the very best people possible to work in your business?

Whether you are a seasoned pro at outsourcing or you’ve never hired anyone to do anything before, here are some proven tips to get you moving with the least amount of hassle and the highest return for your money.

1. Be absolutely clear on what you want done. Whether you are posting a job or giving instructions to someone you’ve already hired, tell them step by step exactly what you want them to do. This will save you time, aggravation, and usually get the job done faster. Plus the bids you receive will tend to be lower, since the people doing the bidding can easily envision exactly what they’re doing and how long it will take. Lastly, if you are paying by the hour then this will save you money, as your worker doesn’t need to take the time to figure out how to accomplish what you want done.

2. In being clear, consider either writing out what needs to be done in a step by step fashion, or make a video showing them exactly what to do. This way you are not only showing your present worker what to do, you’re also creating a blueprint for future workers to follow. In addition, if there is a hole in your plan it will become quite clear when you’re going through the steps necessary to achieve your goal.

3. Have an agreement or contract between you and the worker. Things you might include are:

– Work to be done (Detailed description of what is expected) – Deadline for the work to be done – Payment arrangement (Amount to be paid, terms, method of payment, etc.) – Copyright (You’ll want it to be crystal clear that you own all copyrights) – Non-disclosure (Your worker is not to reveal anything that goes on inside your business, etc.)

4. Check out your worker prior to hiring them. Check their portfolio, references, feedback, etc. You might also Google them. Try to get an idea of the kind of work this person does and whether or not they meet deadlines. Also important: How well they communicate with you.

5. Start with something small and work up from there. If you’ve never hired someone before, choose a small job first. It makes it easier for you to get your feet wet, minimizes your risk, and allows you to experience how wonderful it is to have someone else handling that small chore that you don’t enjoy doing anyway.

6. Find the workers who do well with the small jobs and then give them bigger tasks to do. Rather than hiring someone for a large project, let them show you what they can do with a small one first. They’re testing the waters with you, finding that you do indeed pay on time and you’re someone they can work with. And you’re finding out what kind of work they do, if they meet deadlines and if their style meshes with yours. If it’s a good fit, offer them more work and bigger jobs. If not, move on.

7. For any big job, don’t pay all at once. For example, rather than paying all up front or all when the job is done, you might pay 25% up front, 25% when the job is half done, and 50% when the job is finished. This provides them with plenty of incentive to keep working, since they know you pay and there is more money to come. Plus, if the work isn’t to your satisfaction, you can stop the work before you’ve shelled out too much money.

8. Let them know to contact you if they have questions they can’t find the answer to. It’s important that they and your project not get stalled simply because they’re missing a key piece of information.

9. Have them keep in touch daily. You might ask them to send you a report at the end of the day detailing what they accomplished on the project, any challenges they’re facing and of course any questions they might have.

10. Keep your relationships professional. That is, don’t hire your best buddy because he needs the work – you’ll only end up with problems. Also, if someone you hire is really nice but not performing, you’ve got to set aside your feelings and deal with the situation from a business standpoint. This is, after all, your livelihood.

11. Let your workers know exactly what you expect and give lots of feedback. Don’t make them wonder if they’re doing a good job, tell them. Don’t just pick out the one mistake they made in the 100 articles they wrote for you, also tell them what they did right and let them know you appreciate their work. The more positive feedback you can give, the harder they will work for you, and the easier it will be for them to take constructive criticism as well.

12. If you think you might change your mind, let them know ahead of time. For example, you decide to take a project in a certain direction, all the while wondering if you shouldn’t be doing it differently. Let them know you might be changing things halfway through, and if it comes to pass they’ll be ready for it.

13. Always treat your workers with the utmost respect. It goes without saying, but I will anyway: Just because they’re working for you doesn’t mean they are less than you. Being respectful of your workers will yield you 10–fold in goodwill and hard work. Think back to when you had a boss – who did you go the extra mile for? The boss who yelled and screamed and put you down? Or the boss who was positive, treated you with respect and brought out the best in you? Be the good boss and you will have workers who are loyal and ready to set aside their other work to get yours done faster and better.

Apply some of these hard-earned tips working in the trenches of outsourcing and you’ll save yourself lots of frustration and find faster success getting others to help you grow your business online.

[grabyourluck-blog]

13 Tricks to Find the Best Online Workers

New Post has been published on https://www.referral-master.com/13-tricks-to-find-the-best-online-workers/

13 Tricks to Find the Best Online Workers

You don’t need a humongous budget when you begin outsourcing, but what you do need is the knowledge of HOW to get the best online workers possible. After all, no matter how much work you outsource, it’s still your business and your reputation on the line. Not to mention the fact that better work equates to better profits, both short and long term. Doesn’t it just make sense to find the very best people possible to work in your business?

Whether you are a seasoned pro at outsourcing or you’ve never hired anyone to do anything before, here are some proven tips to get you moving with the least amount of hassle and the highest return for your money.

1. Be absolutely clear on what you want done. Whether you are posting a job or giving instructions to someone you’ve already hired, tell them step by step exactly what you want them to do. This will save you time, aggravation, and usually get the job done faster. Plus the bids you receive will tend to be lower, since the people doing the bidding can easily envision exactly what they’re doing and how long it will take. Lastly, if you are paying by the hour then this will save you money, as your worker doesn’t need to take the time to figure out how to accomplish what you want done.

2. In being clear, consider either writing out what needs to be done in a step by step fashion, or make a video showing them exactly what to do. This way you are not only showing your present worker what to do, you’re also creating a blueprint for future workers to follow. In addition, if there is a hole in your plan it will become quite clear when you’re going through the steps necessary to achieve your goal.

3. Have an agreement or contract between you and the worker. Things you might include are:

– Work to be done (Detailed description of what is expected) – Deadline for the work to be done – Payment arrangement (Amount to be paid, terms, method of payment, etc.) – Copyright (You’ll want it to be crystal clear that you own all copyrights) – Non-disclosure (Your worker is not to reveal anything that goes on inside your business, etc.)

4. Check out your worker prior to hiring them. Check their portfolio, references, feedback, etc. You might also Google them. Try to get an idea of the kind of work this person does and whether or not they meet deadlines. Also important: How well they communicate with you.

5. Start with something small and work up from there. If you’ve never hired someone before, choose a small job first. It makes it easier for you to get your feet wet, minimizes your risk, and allows you to experience how wonderful it is to have someone else handling that small chore that you don’t enjoy doing anyway.

6. Find the workers who do well with the small jobs and then give them bigger tasks to do. Rather than hiring someone for a large project, let them show you what they can do with a small one first. They’re testing the waters with you, finding that you do indeed pay on time and you’re someone they can work with. And you’re finding out what kind of work they do, if they meet deadlines and if their style meshes with yours. If it’s a good fit, offer them more work and bigger jobs. If not, move on.

7. For any big job, don’t pay all at once. For example, rather than paying all up front or all when the job is done, you might pay 25% up front, 25% when the job is half done, and 50% when the job is finished. This provides them with plenty of incentive to keep working, since they know you pay and there is more money to come. Plus, if the work isn’t to your satisfaction, you can stop the work before you’ve shelled out too much money.

8. Let them know to contact you if they have questions they can’t find the answer to. It’s important that they and your project not get stalled simply because they’re missing a key piece of information.

9. Have them keep in touch daily. You might ask them to send you a report at the end of the day detailing what they accomplished on the project, any challenges they’re facing and of course any questions they might have.

10. Keep your relationships professional. That is, don’t hire your best buddy because he needs the work – you’ll only end up with problems. Also, if someone you hire is really nice but not performing, you’ve got to set aside your feelings and deal with the situation from a business standpoint. This is, after all, your livelihood.

11. Let your workers know exactly what you expect and give lots of feedback. Don’t make them wonder if they’re doing a good job, tell them. Don’t just pick out the one mistake they made in the 100 articles they wrote for you, also tell them what they did right and let them know you appreciate their work. The more positive feedback you can give, the harder they will work for you, and the easier it will be for them to take constructive criticism as well.

12. If you think you might change your mind, let them know ahead of time. For example, you decide to take a project in a certain direction, all the while wondering if you shouldn’t be doing it differently. Let them know you might be changing things halfway through, and if it comes to pass they’ll be ready for it.

13. Always treat your workers with the utmost respect. It goes without saying, but I will anyway: Just because they’re working for you doesn’t mean they are less than you. Being respectful of your workers will yield you 10–fold in goodwill and hard work. Think back to when you had a boss – who did you go the extra mile for? The boss who yelled and screamed and put you down? Or the boss who was positive, treated you with respect and brought out the best in you? Be the good boss and you will have workers who are loyal and ready to set aside their other work to get yours done faster and better.

Apply some of these hard-earned tips working in the trenches of outsourcing and you’ll save yourself lots of frustration and find faster success getting others to help you grow your business online.

[miliantyna]

Song Lost 0467 - Frank Sinatra - One For My Baby (And One More For The Road)

“(...) I got the routine (...) So, make it one for my baby (...)”

The concept of calling someone a “baby” was always baffling me. While I understand the idea, in Polish it can be used as an insult and there are other much stronger associations with that word, such as an actual baby or ...

Babe (1995)

for example. I unexpectedly thought of the latter when hearing the “baby” phrase once and my life’s never been the same since :)

In 2017 I’ve made a post regarding the “Who chanted the baby more” (SL038). I presume it was also the moment when my brain started warming up to the counting I used later in “Na Na Na”/”La La La” compilations (at least that’s my theory :) So wouldn’t you know, I thought that if I already did count the variations of the word “baby” in three songs, then why won’t I do it again? Going even further - why don’t I extract them and compile them in one big file? You know, for fun?

I didn't fight myself on it very long and soon succumbed to the joy of cutting the desired parts out. I must say I find some of the cuts very satisfying :) And as today’s song it’s the fourth one from the end ...

... in the next few days, when it’s all gonna be over, beside the Song List I promised to share with you, I will also present you with this monstrosity :)

For now I can only reveal it’s mixed from 236 songs in total, set in chronological order by years and it lasts for nearly 25 minutes and 28 seconds.

See you at the reveal!

INFORMATION POST Song List 0466 Song List 0468

#song list #miliantyna #has finished this humongous project #baby #how to prove a point #la la la #na na na #bonus round #frank sinatra #one for my baby (and one more for the road) #babe #babe – świnka z klasą #james cromwell

[jayteacups]

In the Actor AU, “Memories of the Future” took forever to film because Eren and Zeke kept making the baby who played Baby Eren laugh by pulling silly faces instead of staring ominously like in the script.

Awww yess I love this HC! Actor AU is my absolute favourite, I'm gonna use this as an excuse to talk about a few of my actor au headcanons

Random AOT actor AU hcs!

It took a record number of takes to shoot that scene with Eren and Zeke ominously staring at baby Eren, because they kept breaking out into smiles at the baby who kept smiling and waving at them all cute and stuff

Hange writes fanfiction of the characters in their downtime (they're a very avid multishipper. they definitely enjoy erurihan the most tho lmao). Connie is an avid fanfic reader and has no idea that Hange's written some of his favourites.

Zeke has a secret stan account for canon Levi. (and actor Levi too tbh) Levi found out, laughed for a grand total of ten seconds, then blocked every single one of Zeke's accounts. Zeke retaliated by making even more. Levi's still on the hunt to find them and block

Talking of, Zeke and Levi are hilarious though when they're interviewed together, so for the press stuff for S4 they were together for pretty much every interview (to Hange's chagrin, because before Zeke became a prominent character it was always them, Levi and Erwin being interviewed as a trio). there are youtube compilations dedicated to Levi and Zeke's banterous moments, titled something like 'levi ackerman and zeke jaeger having a lovers spat for seven minutes straight' 💀

Armin loves reading fan theories! spends hours on stan twitter stalking through tweets about what people think is in the basement and laughs at how horrifically wrong they are

Jean and Marco worked on a project together before being casted for AOT! (yes they were child stars too lol)

Annie is really shy off screen

Eren can't keep his mouth shut about spoilers for shit. It just comes out. Hange had to literally clap a hand over his mouth during an interview because he was about to let slip the identities of the Armoured and Colossal Titans during an interview lmao

Every time a character dies every cast member buys that actor flowers. Gabi bought Sasha a humongous bouquet as a gift after shooting Assassin's Bullet because she lowkey felt bad, it was so large that Sasha could hardly carry it by herself.

Levi has a lot of stunt experience so out of the cast members, he does most of his stunts. His stunt double likes to joke he has the easiest job because he barely needs to show up

Erwin went to a convention whilst cosplaying his character once. got told by a bunch of fans that his eyebrows weren't big enough but was an otherwise very convincing cosplayer

Actor Eren hates canon Eren so much especially in S4. Just reads his lines and sighs and goes 'is this dude fucking serious'

Erwin is a talented pianist and performs covers of the show's opening and ending songs, the soundtracks, etc.

Floch was a huge fanboy of the series and ran around his house screaming when he got casted for his role

Before becoming an actor for the show, Floch also ran an AOT facts page on instagram or something, that's how committed he was to the show, and still keeps it going incognito (listen i hate canon floch so to compensate im trying to make actor floch seem nice lmao)

Actor Floch also hates canon floch if we're being honest here

Yelena and Porco were just here for the paycheck they had no idea what this show was before getting casted and lowkey can't wait to finish it lol

Gabi and Falco make tiktoks all around set - both their idea and a new marketing ploy. Pieck is a recurring star in these tiktoks. Mostly it's her napping between takes whilst Gabi and Falco snicker and zoom in on her face with a dumb filter on or something. Sometimes they go up to other actors and ask them a question about the show, their character, or what happens behind the scenes

In a similar vein, Connie and Ymir run a podcast like this where the actors get to expand on those things past a two-minute tiktok! They started this after S2 (connie and ymir brotp!!!) Also out of all of the actors Connie is definitely the most interactive with the fans. interviewers love him too!

On this podcast, sometimes Ymir invites Historia and they read PG Yumihisu fanfic lol. Ymir also loves it when fans give her yumihisu fanfic or fanart to sign at fanmeets! and they're definitely dating offscreen.

Mikasa hates the red scarf with a passion. Levi hates the cravat with a passion. Makes them sweat like crazy especially when they're shooting during the hot summer (and gets in their faces for stunts)

After 'Friends' aired, Kenny, Kuchel, Levi, Mikasa, grandfather Ackerman, Mika's dad's actor and the actors for child Levi and Mikasa all took a big group photo. Mikasa posted it and captioned it #ackerfam

Actor Jean's favourite character is Armin

Actor Eren and Mikasa's favourite character is Hange

Actor Connie's favourite character is between Levi or Jean

Actor Erwin's favourite character is Erwin 😎

Feel free to add more!

#aot headcanons #snk headcanons #aot actor au #snk actor au #actor au #attack on titan headcanons #shingeki no kyojin headcanons #aot #snk #attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #aot actor au asks

[cxsmicmyeon]

MORALS AND DREAMS ; KJM [M] (SNEAK PEEK)

incubus! kim junmyeon x fem! reader

new jobs are always known to be extremely nerve-wracking. especially if said new job is directly under the ceo of the company you’ve been at for years. it didn’t help that said ceo was nothing if not mysterious and devilishly sexy. but when you start to have strange, sexual, lifelike dreams involving him, your job becomes a lot more difficult trying to stay professional. but little do you know, ceo kim has a demonic secret up his sleeve.

genre: supernatural + ceo! au. smut wordcount (for this sneak peek): 556. projected word count: likely 4-5k warnings: explicit sexual content (IN A DREAM)

DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE UNDER THE AGE OF 18.

author’s note: here it is!! i hope you all enjoy this little sneak peek of my halloween fic!! i’ve been planning and writing this baby since august, and i hope to have it finished and out by the week of october 25!! hopefully after i kick this midterm’s ass i can finish it up!! hope u all enjoy <3 tagging: @yeol-jae​ @exo-l-atina​

Four hours into your first day and you already felt yourself drifting off into a daydream.

While you were skilled in many fields, you, like most, were prone to procrastination. While others would scroll through social media or partake in hobbies over doing their hours at a desk, you usually got lost in your imagination. Often staring into space for a little too long, you knew as soon as you saw a clear image in your mind that you were not going to be available for a little bit.

You laid your head onto your desk, blinking slowly as your mind began to construct the image of CEO Kim. The image of CEO Kim that began to walk over to you, cup your cheek and smash his lips onto yours. Not realizing how unprofessional you both were acting, you kissed him back, tugging on his tie as he walked you over to his desk. Said desk that he bent you over on and began to pound into you as if his entire life depended on it. You could only gasp at how realistic this felt, as if his hands were actually gripping and squeezing your breasts, as if his cock moved in and out of you better than any other man’s did, how your name left his lips as if it were a mantra. The repetition of your name, however, made its way back to reality.

You felt yourself being shaken awake by someone. You jumped, eyes quickly opening as you jolted up, wiping excess drool off of the corner of your lip. Your surprise only grew as you made eye contact with the very subject of your dream.

“Are you alright? I heard you gasping and saw you laying on your desk.” He asked with a worried expression on his face.

“Yes! Yes, I’m so sorry I fell asleep, sir. Rest assured, I’m fine.” You answered, your words a little too quick for your own good. You looked down, discreetly wiping more drool off of your desk with the sleeve of your cardigan.

“Didn’t sleep well last night?”

“Um… yeah. And I got a little distracted earlier as well. I’m so sorry, it won’t happen again.”

“It’s okay, please don’t be worried. It was hard for me to sleep last night as well,” CEO Kim placed a hand onto your shoulder. “Were you having a bad dream?”

You sputtered, eyes widening as you looked down at your shoes. It was anything but bad. “Yeah. I was being chased by bears. Veeeery scary stuff.” You lied, shifting in your spot as you fidgeted with your hands.

“Ah, I see. Well, I hope you’re feeling okay after that. Take a few if need be, but otherwise, try to get back to work.” You sighed, relieved that he bought your lie.

“Will do, thank you sir.” You chirped. He smiled curtly before turning on his heel and walking back to his office. Taking a deep breath, you turned your chair back to face your computer. You shook your head a few times, deciding to take CEO Kim’s advice and take a quick breather. You stood from your chair, legs wobbling slightly as you power walked to the bathroom. And as you passed his office, you missed the humongous, devilish smirk on CEO Kim’s face as he watched you.

#suho x reader #junmyeon x reader #exoasisnet #exosnet #exowritersnet #suho x you #suho smut #suho scenario #suho scenarios #junmyeon smut #junmyeon scenario #exo smut #exo imagine #exo imagines #exo scenarios #exo scenario #exo fanfiction #exo fanfic #exo demon au

[genseng-powder]

It's been a month-long of inactivity, but here's a little fluff to make up for it 😌

///

If Senku has to find a better word that describes him around people, it definitely wasn't something that could propel them closer to him - unlike Taiju that draws in humongous positivity with big smiles with his big heart and big hugs (and being on the receiving end of it for at least three-fourths of the time they spend together, it did kind of work. They're already lifetime buddies at this point but he won't say that out loud). Yuzuriha draws in people with her tender and genuine care for people, her dainty and swift hands for craftsman almost comparable to how she handles her interpersonal relationships - careful, discreet and awfully tender. If it hadn't been for their perseverance as a shared attribute between them three, Senku still struggles to see what about him specifically that makes Gen feel safe enough to doze off around him.

If Senku has to find a word to describe himself, it wasn't of big hugs and tender hands - needless to say, he was aversive of affection, and his fingers were roughed up and all calloused from days and nights of steadfast project to rebuild Ishigami village.

There's this tender rise and fall of Gen's chest that makes Senku's hand itch to do something, his soft breathing against the quiet, winter night up in the observatory rouses Senku's concetration away from the papers at hand and to focus instead on Gen's serene sleeping face. As if it never bore any deceit under his sleeves, as if his scar never meant to be a menace, and as if Gen himself wasn't capable of fooling people. Before Senku could think better about it, his hand was already moving on it's own and tucking in the strays of Gen's white locks, and he doesn't know if he did it gently, doesn't know if his hand pressure was soft enough from all the rough woodworks and countless craftings that made his threshold for pressure a little off the scale.

Because Gen stirs, not fully conscious, but now Senku feels guilty of waking him up - all from being unable to hold back his bloody hands from moving and doing it's own thing. As if it had a life of it's own, his body follows involuntarily when Gen offers up a small smile and Senku shifts closer, abandons all hopes in finishing up the blueprint as he unfolds his legs to lift up Gen's head and places it comfortably against his lap. Maybe that will help him fall asleep again for the second time.

Senku doesn't know what he is doing, but he remembers Taiju's big hugs and Yuzuriha's soft pats on his shoulder.

Ah, maybe this is what they feel around each other.

Inevitably warm.

Gen burries himself closer to Senku, unsubtle with the way he noses Senku's clothed abdomen and an arm coming up to wrap on Senku's waist. And he settles comfortably, as if he belonged there for a huge portion of his life because to Senku, it felt nothing but right.

Senku's breath hitched with pleasant surprise, with how affectionate Gen suddenly seems to be acting and he attributes it to the fastly slipping consciousness, but a part of him reasons that maybe it's because it's him - it's because he was Senku and it's why Gen falls into this easy, and soft pliant version of him. He doesn't indulge the thought any further but it was nice to think of it anyway, his calloused hands now threading itself against Gen's hair to a soothing motion, and he doesn't see what he stands to benefit from all of this.

He still doesn't know what makes Gen act like this around him, still doesn't know how he'd describe himself that draws the mentalist in - but Senku figures he doesn't have to have an answer to that right now as he plants a lingering, soft-pressed kiss on Gen's exposed forehead.

Gen slightly hums, pleased, and the smile on his lips slowly fade to a slack as Senku observes him slipping back into a peaceful slumber under him, under his arms and there, inevitably cozied up on his waist. Senku doesn't stop combing his fingers through Gen's locks, doesn't pull his free arm away that's encased on Gen's shoulder, and his eyes definitely doesn't stray away from Gen's sleeping figure - his soft face, his moist lips and slightly reddened cheeks from the cold.

Senku still doesn't know how he'd describe himself, of what propels Gen towards him like this, but if what he was or what he was made up of makes Gen feel comfortable enough around him - would it be arrogant of him, presumptious of him to describe himself as home for Gen?

Maybe it wasn't so bad at all.

///

If it wasn't obvious, I am a sucker for sengen finding home in each other's arms 😭

For the month long inactivity, I'd like to apologize for that since most of the time, I am consumed by academic papers and hell that is thesis 😩 being a student isn't really easy and it saps my energy to write most of the time wjdkwsjskw

So to make up for it, here's a fluff of SenGen that I hope y'all would really enjoy 🥺

#sengen #fluff #asagiri gen #ishigami senku #dcst #drst #narrative heavy #sengen finding home is my thing #sengen ficlet

[lucarioisinthevoid]

You alive...? I got grounded and I'm still worried about you-

It's hard to die when you never leave the house! No traffic accident, weather based damage or humongous birds that would carry me away! And Henry has not finished his soul transfer to use my body to take over this world, so we're good on that front too. I'm still in one piece physically. Mentally I'm kinda the equivalent of when you make a little animal out of playdough and then crush it in your hand. But that's not all bad. Schools eating me alive with big, year long projects haunting me. I haven't abandoned my BOYS yet though, but I've stepped back a little. Hope your grounding will pass or has passed! And that you won't get into any further trouble at home ^u^ Good luck and good day to all who read this actually. And to say it in the most german accent I can muster: "I'll be bAck."

#kiddo

[dropsofletters]

enter for yes, delete for no [wkh]

—summary: “social science is easy. watch me get an ‘a’ on this class”, said wong kunhang, two weeks before failing his first social science test…and horribly.

in light of his new college class making him feel dumber than he really is, and trying to make it through one of his worst economical states ever by balancing three jobs at the same time, kunhang almost loses it when the professor announces that they have to work in trios and make a social science project that is worth 60% of his grade.

great.

now, he’s fucked.

with yukhei by his side, whose eyes divert from the book to scan the library and search for his next love affair, and dejun, who never wanted to be part of his major to start with, he’s left alone with the weight of getting a good grade…

until yukhei’s almost-always silent roommate gives him the idea of the century: a blog. an anonymous blog where he can solve people’s issues. he can do that!

only when he starts to receive submissions from a certain woman does he realize how wrong he was.

—title: enter for yes, delete for no —pairing: wong kunhang x reader —genre: college!au ; strangers to friends to lovers!au ; secret admirer!au ; roommate!au ; unrequited love-ish!au ; slowburn —type: fluff ; angst ; drama ; humor ; suggestive ; crack-ish —word count: around 19k words.

Kunhang thought that when getting into the political sciences major, he would only have to follow through with what he learned in the debate club back in high school. Tight smile, straight shoulders and a good ear for picking up on what people say.

The pamphlet that he read when opting for the college to attend to had never said that he had to have an entire class dedicated to social science. Knowing people, as human beings, individuals that feel and think, sometimes not as rationally as they should, shouldn’t be considered science. Chromosomes and genes? Sure, that’s science. Whatever the hell veterinarians study about dogs and cats? That’s science, too. Experiments based on how people react in social environments?

It’s dumb.

So dumb that Kunhang pushed the fabric of his gray hoodie on his black hair when leaning back on his seat when he attended the first class of social science in his sophomore year of college. The professor, Mr. Sam, sported his tidy and a little-too-small olive-green suit when he spoke to the class and Kunhang turned to look at Yukhei’s horrified expression with a smile on his face.

“Social science is easy,” He started, leaning forward on his seat before tapping his pencil against the wood of his desk. Yukhei scoffed at his words, a beam of his own taking place on his face because Kunhang has his moments of being too overconfident, and that coming from Wong Yukhei? It was grand. “Watch me get an ‘A’ on this class.”

Dejun sighed from his spot, the long and brown strands of his hair moving with the warm air that left his lips as he continued to scribble down some notes with as much furiousness as he could muster. “It’s not as easy.”

Humming, the tallest agreed. “I can finally say Dejun is right about something.”

The glare that Dejun threw to his friends was worthy of a picture, but Kunhang was the worst of them all, crossing his arms behind his back as he stared at the PowerPoint presentation with little to no interest.

“What’s so difficult about science that is based on people just talking to each other? I’ll get an A. Without studying, even.”

No one told him then, when he had spent most of his time studying for other classes and working his three jobs, that social science with Mr. Sam was a nightmare. Even a demon seen through sleep paralysis could be less scary that the beam the professor wore the day he decided to publish the grades of the first test of the class, delivering the pieces of paper one by one on top of his student’s desks.

Kunhang’s soft fingertips touch the surface of his test, turning it around and expecting to see—at the very least—a ninety-eight out of a hundred. Though, his chestnut eyes widen fractions that couldn’t even be measured when he sees his real grade.

“I had a laugh, Mr. Wong, dare I admit.” Mr. Sam says from his position next to him, fixing the rounded glasses that rest on the crooked base of his nose. The chuckle that leaves his lips annoys Kunhang to bits, taking in a breath. He can’t finish this class if he kills the professor, right? “One would think with how much you talk; you’d know more about social sciences…but that’s all you are, aren’t you?” The class falls silent, the student munching on his bottom lip to muffle the curses that threaten to leave his lips. “All talk won’t work for my class. Do better.”

With that, he hears a few muffled whispers and laughs around the class. Excellence was nitpicked in this exam, tainting his ego even further when he looks over his shoulder to see Yukhei’s grade.

“You got a seventy-two?!” Kunhang exclaims in a whisper, taking Yukhei’s test in between his hands.

Yukhei runs his fingers through his recently bleached blonde locks before shrugging. “I kind of had a date last weekend and she had passed this class. I was in her dorm and she repaid me with her notes from last semester.” The smugness in his voice has Dejun rolling his sharp eyes.

“Repay you for what, exactly?” Dejun questions, voice piercing, but Kunhang is not even half interested in the argument ensuing, mind roaming the sceneries of insecurity, jealousy, hatred…perhaps at himself or at this ridiculing teacher.

“I’m not allowed to say.” Yukhei replies, leaning on his desk towards Dejun, making sure to wink at him. “But I’m allowed to show you, if you’d like, bro.”

“Gross.”

Kunhang cuts through the conversation easily enough, not quite catching up with the bantering ways that surround the friend group. “How much did you get, Dejun?”

With that, the man whose drained ways have started to show on his deep eye-bags and the amount of time he spends studying, finally smiles. “I got a 99.”

And Kunhang got a 24. Fucking great.

In the scale of dumbasses, he’s right at the bottom. Even under the guys who copy and paste Google quotes on their social medias and get offended when someone calls them out because that quote is definitely not theirs, as they pride themselves in.

“No fucking way!” Kunhang lets out, his hand grasping Dejun’s test before he feels Yukhei’s breath ghosting over his shoulder.

“Who the fuck is Oaix Nujed?” The question almost seems to hold the answer to life in the way Yukhei spits it out, but it’s easy to catch up on what Yukhei didn’t understand at the time.

Kunhang turns the test around, Dejun’s alter-ego (eh-hem, Oaix Nujed) long forgotten and replaced for his real name. And his grade that stands in sixty-six.

“Shit,” Yukhei curses just as Dejun’s face pales, his thick eyebrows furrowed when he takes the test in between his hands. “I got the best grade out of all of us?!”

This can’t be.

N0. No. No.

Kunhang is certain he answered everything with a bit of logic. He read some here and there, that should be enough to pass a test. He’s sure Yukhei couldn’t do magic tricks with the notes his latest love affair gave him—

Mr. Sam stands in front of the class, his salt and pepper hair pushed to the front of his bald head to hide what is utterly obvious. He purses his lips when he fixes his jacket and speaks to the class. “The test was horrid. I even started to wonder how you made it to your sophomore year.” Well, Kunhang knows the answer. Hard work, paying taxes when it’s due, and with a lot of frustration. Example one, this moment. “So, to help you out, I’m going to reduce the percentage of value of the tests. I want you to familiarize yourself with the importance of social science, much more in the major you find yourselves in.” He breathes out, sitting at the edge of his desk. “I want a project. A social science project. Show me how people react when having relationships with other—friendships, enemies, whatever it is that interests you. With a basement of a hypothesis already done, of course. I don’t want anything from Freud because…it’s too simple. I need you to perfect it as if it was your thesis and I want it for the end of the class. Three months from now, that is.”

Okay, so he has a chance. He just has to think of a project that is not based on Freud and that shows the importance of society and their unions. If people went through this class and they didn’t die in the process, he could do it.

Right?

“I want it to be in trios and for you to show three different perspectives. You apply the same experiment but you have different thoughts about it. Conclusions, let’s call it.”

One of the girls in the class, with vibrant red hair and a black turtleneck, raises her hand in the air. “What if our conclusions are the same?”

“They can’t be.” Mr. Sam shrugs. “It’s social science. We don’t all enjoy the same relationships or friendships in one way or with just one group of people. Let’s say, if I see one word that is similar, I won’t even read the project. It’ll be a zero.”

Dejun clears his throat when he asks for the professor’s attention. “Will we be picking our groups or will you—?”

Mr. Sam interrupts him before he could continue, typical of him. His intelligence dares barricade his humongous ego. “I’ll let you guys work with whoever you want,” He fixes his folders and places them inside his backpack before chuckling softly. “I’m assuming Dummy, Dumb and Dumber are going to work together. Is that what this is all about?”

His nostrils expand the slightest when he presses his lips in a tight line. His mother has taught him how to respect elders, but if Mr. Sam just casually slipped and went down the flight of stairs in their building, with a car coincidentally passing over his face and killing him in the process…it may just not make him sad.

Yukhei whispers in the slightest deep vibrato. “Well, that’s new. Now, I’m Dummy. Normally, Dejun is—”

“I’m not Dummy, Dumb or Dumber.” Dejun shakes his head, on the verge of snapping at Yukhei. Well, he already did. “This man is just crazy.”

Kunhang nods at his words. “We agree on something, pal.”

“You know what? Yes. He’s a bit crazy.” Yukhei admits, placing his hand on top of Kunhang’s desk, the separation between Dejun and himself. “But I know a lot of people who had this class with him. From our major and other majors. It’s going to be fine. I still have those girl’s notes and my roommate is extra good at this kind of thing. She’ll help us out.”

Ambition fills his lungs when he hums along to Yukhei’s words. “I think Kun can help us, too.” Remembering the guy he works with, recently graduated, he taps his fingers against the desk. “We’re not going to let this man grade us that badly again. I don’t care how we’re doing it, but we’re getting a hundred on that project and he’ll have to suck my dick if he doesn’t give me that grade.”

“Oh man,” Yukhei says, laughter following his statement. “Kunhang is, for real, angry. He never talks about getting his dick sucked and now he wants Mr. Sam to do it for him.” Clasping his hands in front of him, he chuckles when Kunhang slaps the back of his head. “Aw, that’s so cute. Celibate and all, you’re a cutie.”

“Democratic vote to kick Yukhei out of our group.” Kunhang states, raising his hand at the same time that Dejun does, only to have Yukhei’s smile dissipating.

Well, at least he has his friends while going through this hell, scalding him with disappointment.

“You’re just jealous I’m Dummy.”

###

Four in the morning and Kunhang is already slipping into a cold shower. By six, he’s already out of the door and towards his first job of the day. With an apron wrapped around his waist, he serves coffees to people who dare say they are sleep deprived, but his eyes almost feel like they glue together from his hard work.

He’s out of there by eleven, with his feet moving incessantly on his bicycle to get to his first set of classes. Schedule arranged to take up his college courses from twelve in the afternoon and four, he gets out of his classes with homework to fulfill and another job to take care of.

By five, he waters Mrs. Ling’s plants. Makes sure to sings a tune to them or talk in order to get extra points with the older woman, who smiles at him when he gets out of the door only thirty minutes later. Once again, Kunhang finds himself in his bicycle and he rushes over to the restaurant he works in from six to nine at night. That’s where Kun is a dishwasher, just like him, trying to meet ends before he finds his first real job.

Just when he’s out, he gets enough time to study and do homework. Surprise, surprise, it’s never enough. He’s dozing off by twelve, working through his projects with expertise before he repeats the cycle again. Four hours of sleep, three jobs, classes, tests, sophomore year and a social life, if it’s after nine at night.

Three months is not enough time for him to think about a project, let alone work on it. Dejun has a job of his own—though, he takes care of children on his free time—and he’s as studious as he can get, but Kunhang just can’t play the asshole card and let all responsibilities fall on his shoulders. The thought makes him rub on the dishes with more force, his uniform splashed by droplets of water.

Yukhei could think about it—he’s got enough wit to do something, but he’s not as good in redacting something. His big eyes can stare into a Word document and not think about anything for hours. He could be in charge of tracking, excel sheets and graphics, but writing is just a big no.

If Dejun hasn’t had an idea in two weeks, as he said earlier when he saw him in class, he’s sure Yukhei doesn’t either.

And he sure as hell hasn’t had any time to think about it either.

With a pleading tone and jazz music in the background, his thin lips wrap around every edge of his words, his black hair falling across his slim face while he expresses his worries to Kun. Said man is more relaxed, not thinking about studying anymore but with a permanent frown when being denied the opportunity of trying by the real world. His degree dusts itself off in his apartment while he waits for a chance.

“I need you to give me an idea so I can develop it.”

Responsible lines of upright nature join and thread to make Kun’s shell. He raises one eyebrow, shaking his head when he chuckles softly. “No.”

Think of the pain of stepping on four Lego pieces at the same time. Yeah, that wouldn’t even compare to what Kunhang feels right at this moment. “Dude, don’t be an ass. I really have no idea what to do and my tests are going horribly—”

Kun sighs deeply, leaning his taut waist against the edge of the counter near the dishwasher. “It’s s0cial sciences, Kunhang. If I help you out, there is nothing that you will learn. You need to learn the root of social archetypes and correlations to be able to get a nice grade, and you won’t do that if I just help you.”

Alright, so, maybe, Kunhang is physically and mentally drained. He manages to be good in other classes—studies in between the times he has free and gives up his social life on the slightest bit just to be able to meet ends, but failing a class is something he can’t give himself the benefit of. He’s tight on money, and his face won’t be tranquil enough to tell his mom that he failed.

“I’m just asking you to give me an idea for the project,” Kunhang tries to convince the older man. “You didn’t have a class with this asshole. He’s gone through four divorces, man. Not a single woman can stand his faulty, stupid ass and that’s factual.”

Blinking, even his coworker seems surprised. The truth is…Mr. Sam is entire textbook-based. If he sees a comma, he wants you to write that comma on the test. Logic aside, he wants investigations, hypothesis, an entire project written on your test without a single ounce of your train of thoughts. Or, if you mask it as such, it has to be quoted from someone else. It’s tiring.

Yukhei is a memory learner. If he repeats words for a long period of time, he will learn them, a bit out of order, but his mind is skillful enough for that. Maybe, that’s why he does so great in this class.

“I just…I don’t know, man. I want you to feel the gratitude of doing this on your own.” Kun spits out, only to have Kunhang scoffing.

“I just want to pass.” Swatting his hands to watch the droplets of water fall away from them, cold in the freezing kitchen, he sighs. “I don’t care about learning because that man leaves no room for learning. He thinks he’s it. He’s worthy of writing a hundred textbooks because he’s that smart.”

“I can give you some textbooks, but I really don’t have the time to sit down and think about an idea. Sorry.” He can’t blame him, but somehow, he does. His options are running short and Yukhei, the star of the class, still hasn’t had his grand idea. Kun’s plate—metaphorically speaking, the plates are clean in this restaurant—is filled with a little too much stress right at this moment, and Kunhang can’t just beg him to go back to the pressure that comes from college projects. “I’ll bring them to you tomorrow. I know how packed your schedule is.”

He has no fucking idea. His body giving up on him, his knuckles almost become white when he leans his weight forward and grasps the edge of the counter in between his hands. A tired breath accompanies his dizzy mind, migraine thumping at the back of his eyelids. At the verge of giving up, he bites down on his lip, nodding once and returning to his positive ways.

Yukhei’s roommate is his only option.

###

Truth be told, the only good thing about working three jobs and having an apartment of his own, is that the money is worth it. He doesn’t have to deal with someone’s noise, one-night stands and the horrid walks of shame, and he definitely doesn’t have to hear one of his best friends screaming at the top of his lungs as he plays videogames and completely ignores the assignment at hand.

Sure, ten at night is not exactly the perfect moment to work on a project, but it’s the only time Kunhang has had free and he studied ahead of this Friday night just to be able to be here, at Yukhei’s place. Yangyang, one of Yukhei’s roommates, is playing around with the blender at the kitchen, making God-knows-what for the past fifteen minutes, stopping his ministrations to try the concoction before going back to the awful noise again. In any other occasion, Kunhang would have played along, nodded along to the beat of Yangyang’s dubstep blending…

Yet, for the first time in twenty-one years, Kunhang can say one thing…

He’s more stressed than Dejun.

Dejun flips one page to continue reading his textbook, his hair done a mess and his lips forever closed as he stares between his notes and one of the books Kun lent them. Still, not an idea has ensued. Maybe, he can blame it on the fact that Dejun’s girlfriend had just called him and created a scene out of him not being with her on a Friday night, jealousy pouring from her every word and Dejun’s eyebrows forever petrified in a frown growing even deeper.

None of the trio are on it today.

“Shit, shit, shit,” Yukhei curses, moving his controller to one side as his big eyes concentrate on the screen. “Babe, could you help me over here? I’m about to get killed.”

Oh, so that’s why. Kunhang could almost chuckle at that moment, had it not been for his comfortable position on the couch next to Yukhei, with one leg resting on the armrest and his eyes trained on a textbook he doesn’t give two shits about. Yukhei has completely forgotten about social sciences girl and now he’s with a gamer girl. From the faint distance, he hears a light giggle and a sweet tone.

This is definitely going nowhere.

“Found anything, Dejun?” Kunhang asks, finally straightening his back to hear every bone crack into place. When is the last time he took a nap and rested his back properly? He’s not sure.

Absentmindedly, the man’s brown eyes claim Kunhang’s attention, barely even there when he hums. “Not really. Kun’s textbooks are fine, but I asked around the class to see what topics people have picked and they’re all written down here. We need to come up with something else.”

Great. Now they’re behind everyone. “Alright,” Growing tired of waiting, Kunhang stands up, throwing his oversized bomber jacket on top of his white t-shirt, paired with comfortable basketball shorts and sneakers. “Yukhei.”

No answer.

“Yukhei!” Kunhang says louder, though Yukhei is still very much playing around with his PlayStation. Patience running low, he takes the headphones away from Yukhei’s ears, putting them around his head before speaking. “Listen, I know he looks cute in his profile picture and that you may think he’s the biggest catch in the world, but I really need you to stop flirting with him for two seconds so I can have him put, at least, a grain of knowledge into this project we’re making. It’s not you, it’s not me, it’s Wong Yukhei and his dick that keeps slipping out of his pants. I’m sorry for interrupting.”

“Hey!” Never had he heard Yukhei’s low voice grow so high, pausing his game to stand up and place his hands on his hips. “Don’t talk to GameOn187 like that.”

“Oh, GameOn187 doesn’t mind the slightest bit.” Kunhang crosses his arms across his chest, laughing at Yukhei’s antics. Okay, he was angry one second ago, but seeing Yukhei be so serious about someone he doesn’t even know the name of is hilarious. “Where’s your roommate?”

With that, worry grows on the man’s face, grasping his phone in between his hands and frowning at the time. “She told me she was outside fifteen minutes ago. She must’ve come back from her date by now.”

His stomach churns, twists in worry when he takes Yukhei’s keys in between his fingers and speaks over the noise of the game and the blender. “I’m going to look for her.”

“Do you need me to go with you?” Yukhei could fall in love as easily as he grew in high school, but that doesn’t mean his care and attention doesn’t go to his best friend and roommate.

With the starry night, blinding street lights and the college students drinking around the building in this Friday night, he’s sure he won’t need accompaniment. “I’ll be fine. I—I just need to look for her, get her home and make sure she helps us out.”

That’s how the cold night bites at the skin of his calves, long hair sweeping away from his face to showcase his worried eyes. Yukhei’s roommate may not be his closest friend, but glimpses of her in high school come back to his brain. Sweet, shy, a bit soft. The change happened when she suddenly grew dull, strong, collected and silent by the time college came around. Never had they connected on a level deeper than a few conversations and their shared interest for Yukhei’s wellbeing.

But he knows that not appearing for fifteen minutes after instructing she was outside is not a good thing. He greets some of the English majors by the entrance, drinking from bottles of beer with electric cigarettes dangling from their lips, but that doesn’t take his attention away from the quickened movement of his legs as he screams out her name.

Heart racing, eyebrows scrunched and eyes set everywhere and anywhere, he’s midway through the entrance, almost towards the street when he sees her. Leaning against the brick walls of the apartment complex for students, her back bent as her date relishes on kissing her like a madman, hungry for more of her. His hands go up and down her back, opening and closing when he leans his abdomen forward and pushes her more into the wall.

With how into it the taller man with a slim waist and buff arms is, Kunhang almost wants to look away.

Though, then he sees her. Her lips are moving, softly, delicately, not quite catching up to what her date is doing, taking more of her as if she owes it to him. Thus, her eyes are opened, lifelessly staring at the man with confusion, as if trying to understand the situation she’s in. Her hands rest on his shoulders, halfway through pushing him away or tugging him closer. Confusion and tenderness bathes over her features, clearly giving him a sign that she may not understand but he does.

She’s not into the kiss.

So, he calls out her name, loud and clear, powerful enough to make the man kissing her pull away from her, a scaredy cat in the making. She rubs her mouth with the back of her hand, the saliva glistening against her lips almost making him laugh.

Well, that doesn’t seem like a good kiss.

“We were looking for you.” Kunhang says, voice tranquil, barely jutting his chin towards her date as a greeting before trailing her eyes over her worried expression. “Yukhei and I. Want to come home now?”

Her date opens his thick lips to say something, his hipster hairstyle—shaved by the sides, sleeked back by gel—touched by the wind when she presses a hand to his taut chest. “Sorry, Leo, I think you should go.”

The man looks at her with the gaze of a man who wants something more and maybe, he’ll beg for it just to get a taste of her. “Want to take me to my car, then?”

She looks into his eyes, doubting, staring at the car with little to no longing before shaking her head. “I have to study.” Her excuse is as clear as day, but Kunhang doubts the asshole by her side even notices her reactions. If he couldn’t tell she wasn’t into that horrible kiss, then he’s not perceptive at all. “Text me once you get home, alright?”

The buff man quirks an eyebrow towards Kunhang, moving backwards as he gets the keys of his expensive car out. “I don’t think I caught your name.”

“I didn’t tell you.” Kunhang answers, shrugging his shoulders when she moves to his side. For some reason, he can’t understand how someone as beautiful as her could go for the most simplistic man out there. Like everyone else in college, if not worse. And dumb, at that. “…It’s Kunhang.”

“Take care of my girl, will you?”

Scoffing, Kunhang chuckles soon after. “I think she can take care of herself perfectly well.” And he does, her change of character had only made her stronger, more reliable, though glimpses of that shy student he once knew in high school existed within her.

By the time the man’s car parked off and weaved through the streets in a rushed manner, Kunhang turns to look at her, resting his hand in between her shoulder blades to move her forward.

She walks alongside him, cladded in some beige shorts, a tight black shirt and a dark denim jacket. Unlike what she wears on most occasions, with boots tall enough to be killing her, but it’s a change of style. Glimmering beauty making him have a second take before smiling to himself.

“You weren’t into that kiss at all, were you?”

That question has her licking her bottom lip, the street lights casting down on her features before she shrugs. “Make outs should feel a bit disgusting, don’t they?” The question at the end lets him know about her insecurity, shoes dragging across the flooring. “I mean, it’s a mess of tongues against tongues and teeth and sucking and biting. That’s…meant to be gross at some point.”

Disagreeing completely, he shakes his head, resting his cold fingertips inside the pockets of his jacket before sighing. “Take a seat,” Upon seeing a set of stairs that leads to the entrance, the two of them sit on the concrete, eyes staring at the road ahead of them. Silent, until Kunhang speaks up again. “Kisses aren’t meant to feel gross. At all. If you are really into someone, it’s going to feel…sweet, you won’t even have to think about opening your eyes because you’re too entranced in the moment.”

Her cheekbones lift up when she smiles at him, resting her hand on her palm, elbow resting on her knees. “I didn’t open my eyes because of t—that…” Once again, she’s looking for excuses, blinking rapidly in the process. “I, shit, I can’t believe you saw me make out with someone.”

“Leo.” Kunhang corrects. “Why did Leo make you open your eyes, according to you?”

A sigh leaves her lips. “I guess I wanted to see how he looked like when he kissed me. I don’t know.” She replies, growing raged by her own answer. She drops her hands on her lap, looking down at them.

That’s not unusual. Some people just want to see how the other person looks like, but by the way they kissed each other with so much difference in approach, Kunhang could guess two things. It was one of their first kisses, first and foremost. And, none of them tried to meet at the middle; Leo asking for too much, while she asked for too little.

“Okay, okay!” Kunhang says, lifting his hands in the air. “Let’s say I believe you. What did you feel when you saw him kissing you?”

“Kunhang, really. It’s not that deep—”

“It is,” He finalizes for her. “I’ve known you for years and I’ve never seen you date anyone. Not once. You’re always so secretive about it. I know you’re not the kind to kiss where everyone can see you and you definitely are not the type to go for the most simplistic guy in the entire campus.”

That makes her laugh. “I didn’t meet him at the campus. I met him at my workplace.”

Oh, right. Yukhei always talks about his free yoga classes coupon that she gets him each month as a gift. She’s a receptionist at one of the gyms near the campus. “Fair enough, he’s a gym rat. I can see it. But what did Leo make you feel—?”

“I don’t know, he just looked weird!” Exasperated, she replies, a laugh leaving her after she says those words. “That should be normal. I’m sure it’s not impossible for me to be one of the few people who just don’t like kissing or think the person is cute but when they kiss them, they lose interest entirely. No one looks attractive while kissing someone.”

A thought crosses Kunhang’s head, a memory that he pushes to the back of his brain when his eyes claim each portion of her face with the drag of his pupils. “I think you’re wrong.” He whispers. “You’re always so uptight and proper, so difficult to approach, but you bend to a man’s will when you’re not even attracted to him.”

“He’s okay—”

“Okay is not enough for kissing someone.” Nudging her side with his elbow, he watches her lift her gaze, eyes connecting with her own when he sighs out of his words. “Listen, I know Yukhei should be the one to tell you this but he’s not the best of examples. Just because you’re young doesn’t mean that you have to do things just to do them. You get the benefit of feeling nice when you’re kissing someone, to want more, to not feel like lying to someone just to end a date. That’s not how attraction feels like.”

She shrugs, the night washing her down when she leans back on the stair and stares at the night sky. “What if I never feel like that for someone approachable?”

That takes the words out of his mouth for a second, turning to look at the stars as well. They twinkle, bright and clear, when he says: “I doubt you couldn’t get whoever you want.” He initiates. “Good legs and a nice smile? You’ll get any man you want.”

Deep is the laugh that leaves her lips, twirling her thumbs in between her fingers before whistling. “You’re really good at reading people, you know that?”

“Tell that to my social sciences teacher. I’m failing the class.”

A movement from her has their knees colliding, plastered to his side when she asks: “You’re failing Mr. Sam’s class?”

“He’s impossible.” He says, looking into her eyes and letting his smile fall at the memory of such class.

“Oh, tell that to his four ex-wives. He really is.” She conquers, but she swats her hand in the air soon after. “He’s all talk, though. I got a 98 in his class.”

“How?” Kunhang questions.

As if giving the elixir to a happy life, she quirks an eyebrow. “Just take what the textbooks say and apply it to our society. What you know best. In my case, I did a project about the repercussions of college on stressed students and what the root of societal norms do to craft impossible expectations, correlated to ‘all-or-nothing’ personalities and procrastinators.” The explanation of her project has his head thumping. Well, she is smart, he’ll give her that. Though not smart enough not to go out with a man like flavorless-ass Leo. “Dejun was one of my experiments and yes, his college life makes his very unhappy but that’s far away from the case—”

“What do you think I could do?” He expands his hand on top of his heart. “I truly have no idea.”

Her lips purse as she studies him, thinking for a moment before snapping her fingers together. “A blog.” She says. “Make an anonymous blog where you solve people’s issues, just like you did to me. Read people and tell them your opinion and see what’s the most common issue in selected age groups. For example, most 50-year-olds in your blog expressed issues with divorce and erectile disfunction while most 20-year-olds expressed parental issues and lack of knowledge on what their future holds for them.”

Denial almost slips from his lips, but the more he thinks about it, the more interested he is. Advice from Kunhang had been thrown around in between laughter, mostly shrugged off because he’s just some funny guy trying to take care of his friends, but then, it settles on him. He’s good at reading people, and his advice, while being anonymous, may be even better without the construction of walls of shame and dignity.

Taking her face in between his hands, he places a short peck to her forehead, standing up from the flight of stairs when he shouts out: “That’s brilliant!”

“Thanks.” She chuckles, slower in her movements when moving away from the staircase and next to him through the apartment complex.

“I’m going to tell Dejun so we can start working on the website today and Yukhei has a bunch of followers on Instagram. We can definitely find a proper following and get this going this week—”

Laughing, she adds: “See? Social sciences aren’t so bad after all.”

###

Demographics are insane. Five thousand Instagram followers from Yukhei plus the word spread around the campus in the past three days and now they have over one thousand messages to reply to. All in three motherfucking days.

The website had been coded by Dejun himself, simplistic, with the layout made for people to read the forum but to be unable to comment on what other people say or do. Against hate, of course. The only people who are able to talk are the administrations—Dejun, Yukhei and Kunhang, but even then, when he sees the inbox while standing in Dejun’s bedroom, he feels like throwing up.

“Wow,” Kunhang says, a smile taking over his features as he stands to Dejun’s right, Yukhei taking the spot on the left. “Well, we have to get to working.”

“How exactly are we going to get through over a thousand messages? And counting.” Yukhei says, watching another notification pop up from the corner of the website. “Listen, we can’t solve everyone’s issues…and leaving some outside would give us a bad reputation.”

Always the organizer, Dejun snaps a sheet of paper away from his agenda, clicking on his pen a few times, trying it out on the paper before sighing. “We’ll take turns and we’ll close the inbox by now. Each of us will personally respond to different messages, fifty at a time.” Jotting that down, he scribbles his friend’s names. “Yukhei will take the morning hours, considering that he’s free most mornings. I’ll take the afternoon time because I’m taking care of the kids by that time and Kunhang can take the night shift, respond to fifty messages himself.”

“That’s a lot of work.” Yukhei announces, but Kunhang chuckles.

“And a lot of data. This is a big project.” Kunhang finalizes. “How many days would it take us to get through all the messages?”

“We’d be responding to one hundred and fifty messages per day,” Lost in mathematics, Dejun clicks his pen one last time before hanging the piece of paper on the corner of his computer screen, glued by a bit of tape. “So, it would take us around a week, and that should be it.”

That just means they wouldn’t have to take in that much more data. One week worth of hard work and then, the only thing they would have to do is write down the project.

“Let’s do it, then.” Kunhang announces, looking down at his watch before clicking his tongue. “After I study for my final. See you guys!”

###

“Ugh, I can’t stand him. I really can’t.”

She stops wiping the main counter of the gym to watch Chaeryeong dabbing some sweat from the connection between her hairline and her forehead away with a towel. Her short black hair rests on her toned arms, her tattoo displayed on her left forearm, body cladded in her gym clothes. From the far distance, she sees Dejun rushing through his last set of push-ups before getting out the door, without even saying goodbye to his girlfriend.

Chaeryeong is a trainer here, though that’s not how he met her. They studied together during their first semester, before Chaeryeong decided that studying wasn’t her thing and dropped out completely. In between her family’s judgement and her growing relationship with Dejun, she decided to go that extra mile and start lifting weights. Buff arms and legs accompanied her, paired with her strong features and slim lips.

But what had once been the love story everyone envied now seems to be falling down. Stopping her ministrations, she leans forward on the counter to speak to her more privately. “He was just working out, Chaeryeong, he’s doing his best.”

“But he said he was going to be here two hours and thirty minutes later, he says he has to work on another project!” Chaeryeong whines, gulping down the rest of her water bottle before crushing the plastic in between her palms. Now, that’s anger. “He doesn’t even have time for me anymore and hear me out, girl, I was checking his Instagram the other night as I stayed over in his place and some bitch sent him a DM saying ‘you’re so hot’. I think the fuck not. I have all the right to be mad at him.”

Chaeryeong supports her friends much like she does her weights, but her personality goes from zero to infinity. It’s up to her to calm her friend down, hand extending to rest on top of her calloused hand. “Babe, Dejun loves you. He even gave you a promise ring and all. He’s just been really busy and that’s why he hasn’t been around as much as you want him to. After all, he’s in his sophomore year. We’re all busy around this time.”

Nodding, her friend continues her train of thought: “So, what about the girl?”

That topic is a little bit more difficult to treat, veins popping out of her neck the slightest out of the pressure building inside of her. A red jealousy monster at times…that she is. “He’s nice looking. Was she a senior?”

“Freshman.”

“Even worse,” She spits out, returning to her rubbing against the desk. “Freshmen are excited to finally be in college and they’re a little bit out there. Does he follow her?”

Chaeryeong shakes her head.

“Has he replied?”

Once again, the answer is no.

“Then, why are you worrying?”

“Because he didn’t tell me! I only saw the DM; he didn’t even want to tell me on the first place!” Chaeryeong marks her truth out with every elongation and punctuation of her words. “I appreciate your honesty, but if Dejun even dares cheating on me, I’m out. I’m not here for him to get angry at me when he has been the one who is distant and—”

From the corner of her eye, she sees a familiar figure entering the gym. A white t-shirt clings to every curve of his trained yet slim chest, pale skin plastered in some moles around his neck, thick lips curved into a smile, cheeks as tinted as the pink shorts he wears today. Zhang Leo, who had once asked her out while entering the gym two years ago, slim as ever, and had grown some muscle after a while, perseverant enough to get her out on a date.

Only a few seconds pass by when her knees duck and she’s hidden behind the desk, Chaeryeong stopping on her rambles when she mumbles: “W—What? What happened?”

“Leo is here.”

“Shit, let me cover you.”

Blame it on curiousness and a lonesome night that ended up with her saying yes not to one, but to three dates. Leo had persisted, ridiculously proud of going out with her but still, not daring to speak about himself but what he wanted to do with her instead. It was tiring, barely able to make her heart race past the initial fear of kissing him. Then, came blankness, exasperating dullness that she can’t get rid of, much like she can’t get rid of Leo.

The man moves towards the desk she hides behind of, expanding one hand on top of it as he speaks to Chaeryeong. The first thing he does is call out her name. “Where’s my girl?”

My girl, he says, even though she’s totally sure that’s a noun he uses for plenty of women. “Been throwing up like crazy since last night. She isn’t working today.”

Clinging closer to the desk, she sincerely hopes Leo doesn’t dare look to the left, because he could get a glimpse of her in this immaculate, big gray gym. “That’s weird.” Patting his hand against the desk, he adds: “Tell her to call me, okay? I’ll get tired of her if she keeps running away.”

Though, by the time he has left, she barely hears Chaeryeong’s voice mouthing out a small:

“Asshole.” She says. “Darling, you really don’t have to go out with an asshole like that, you know that? You definitely can get better.”

And that’s the set of words that cling to every corner of her mind for the rest of the evening. Even when she’s walking home after taking the bus, all she can think about is how romance is never fitted for her. Never had she felt love for someone, or the romantic kind, at least. Never had she been swept off her feet other than with a character on the screen. Never had she enjoyed a kiss as much as she did one time, and it wasn’t even a real kiss to begin with.

Her mind wonders—had love been created just to bring hope to people? Or was it misery that cladded the word and made it impossible to find these days? Had the people who had fallen in love in the past, hard and fast, with utmost sincerity, held onto the doubts that cover her every being?

If love was a word everyone understood, why was it so different for everyone?

If everyone was capable of loving, why was it difficult to find someone who loved her how she wanted to be loved?

Why couldn’t she love anyone, on the first place?

Speaking out those thoughts to her friends is the least she wants to do. None of them would find an answer—too entranced in their own issues. She can’t ask them to understand her, when she can’t do it herself. So, with a notification from Yukhei’s Instagram account from one day ago, her finger taps on his story, getting a few seconds to read the ‘swipe up’ message.

The Experience Club, get advice from people who have gone through it all!

Well, it’s worth a try. Besides, none of them would really know it’s her, after all.

Her fingers move with precision on the screen to write down the message on the big white box.

Dear ‘The Experience Club’,

I’ve never fallen in love with anyone and I feel pressured to do it thanks to my age. Though, all I’ve managed to meet are a bunch of dumbasses. I don’t know if it’s a me-issue, making me the type to attract assholes, or if it’s all them.

Should I feel ashamed of not having fallen in love? Or, even better, should I grow used to not feeling entirely attracted to someone because there is not such thing as a middle-half? I know people have flaws, I don’t expect someone to be perfect, but I thought, at least, my partner’s imperfections would suit me and be, somewhat, acceptable.

Maybe, I’m too impatient or selective, I’m not sure.

Please, help someone out.

Sincerely,

Loveless Anon.

###

“Mom, I promise, I’m fine.”

With his phone perched between his slim shoulder and his cheek, his fingertips continue to trail on the keyboard of his half-functioning laptop to finish the essay he should have finished a week ago. A plate of cold noodles settles on the side of his coffee table, back hunched beyond relief as he listens to the faint sound of a Post Malone song in the background.

Fine.

Spectacular.

Kunhang couldn’t be better.

But as he hears his mother shuffling around on the other end of the call, his ears become wary, trying to distinguish the almost imperceptible noise. “I’m sure you can do this and much more, Kunhang.” Dulcet as ever in her tone, she continues as Kunhang resumes his furious tapping. “See, baby, I’m moving your sisters’ degrees away to get that special spot for you in my living room. I want everyone to see my political scientist boy.”

His heart squeezes against his ribcage, stealing his breath away when his phone almost falls off his shoulder. Little does she know he’s halfway through failing a class for the first time, balancing three jobs and still, on the verge of paying another class with Mr. Sam. As if education wasn’t expensive enough.

“You didn’t have to—”

“You’re my boy, of course, I had to.” Stubborn, his mom continues. “You sound tired, Kunhang.”

“I already said I’m fine.” He grumbles, not meaning to sound as annoyed as he does. Truth be told—it’s the annoyance he has at himself. How fucking difficult is it to get over sixty on a test? He does fine on his other classes!

“Two jobs and studying are a lot of things, Kunhang. You used to be brighter.”

Sighing deeply, he puts the last word down on his essay, opening his Gmail and writing down some simplistic greeting before turning his work in. If only his mom knew about the third job…

“Just a bad day, mom.” Rubbing his eyes, he tries not to let his voice break. What about some bad months? Would it be too much to tell her the truth? “I have another project to work in, so I’m not sure if I’ll be able to call you until tomorrow night. If you’re up, that is.”

“I’ll stay up for you.”

A smile plasters on his features. There will never be a love as beautiful as the one that comes from a good mother. “You don’t have to…”

“I want to.” She says. “Unless you’re playing this victim card so your mom doesn’t call you.”

“I could never.” His fingers hover over the mouse before clicking on The Experience Club’s website, the white color almost making his irises burn.

“How’s Yukhei doing?”

Typical guy who earns a spot in moms’ hearts. “I think he’s out with someone right now,” In light of Yukhei’s usual personality. “I haven’t really texted him today, but he’s doing fine.”

A little bit more talking ensues in between his mother and himself until he hears her yawn, loud and clear, barely getting a few words out when she excuses herself to go to bed. Not like he could do such thing, he has fifty letters to go through that he has to answer as soon as possible.

Forty-seven letters later and he has three hours to sleep when he feels his body melting into the seat, eyelids closing before he opens them widely. That jolts him awake, clicking on another letter to read through it.

Loveless Anon.

As he reads through the passages of questions and insecurities, he becomes awfully aware of his own vision of love. One year ago, one would see him tagging along with Yukhei, earning the attention of one or two women, responding to texts and being on social media. Then, came his shortage in salary and he had to add another job to his list. Working at a café was far more difficult than people thought.

Each day, he saw people flirting, he saw relationships blossom, but never had he stopped once and thought love was for him. Sure, he knew one day would come that he’d fall for someone…but he didn’t know how it feels. Great, he has felt comfortable enough in the relationships he has been in, but they have never been the greatest, making him think about the future.

With his mouse hovering over his answer, he starts typing:

Dear Loveless Anon,

Welcome to the Club, first and foremost. Truth be told, this had me thinking for a bit. I think love is something we’re allowed to feel, but we’re not meant to go through it per say. We decide if we want to do it or not, so being selective is never a bad thing.

Do I think it’s humanly impossible for someone to never feel love? Maybe. I think you’re just looking in the wrong place—or, perhaps, that is where you go wrong. You’re looking, you’re not exactly waiting for it and taking your chances.

Here’s a question: Do you look for a shooting star or do you get surprised when it arrives and make a wish?

It’s a one in a lifetime thing. Most people haven’t seen a shooting star, but they have seen planes fly by or starts that twinkle in different lights…and that, in the night sky, looks similar. Not all of us are shooting stars, but we’re shooting stars for someone.

Lighten up! I think you haven’t noticed you don’t have to settle for someone who doesn’t look at you like you’re that one bird that they confused for a shooting star. Flawed, sure, but still beautiful.

Thank you for giving me something to think about.

Sincerely,

H.W.

###

Four years ago.

Dipping French fries in garlic cream is a gift sent from heaven. It’s what distracts her in this awful party with high school students, sporting their best clothing, faces filled with dumb smiles in need of feeling integrated in groups. Instead, she leans against the kitchen counter in the house of one of her classmates, concentrating on the scene that develops on the TV screen, a romantic movie displayed in there as she munches on the snacks everyone has been passing on just to socialize.

With the sound of her name cutting through the music, she turns towards the gray door that leads to the small kitchen. Yukhei is there, brown hair falling on his forehead as he clasps his hands together in front of him. A ridiculous plaid shirt rests on his upper body, tucked inside his skinny jeans when he pleads, in his best whiny tone:

“Can you please stop being a party pooper and come play a game with us?” He questions, and she knows Yukhei does it in good fun. He brought her here on the first place, in his dad’s car, as he begged to have his best friend by his side. Parties are his thing—and with his high school girlfriend tied by his side, he attends them much more often. “Please. I need you to have fun once.”

Truth be told, she’s not as easy going as she should, but she continues to dip another French fry into the cream before bringing it up to her lips and taking it in one bite. “I’m having fun. Titanic is running, the AC here is just perfect and this cream, God, Yukhei, this cream is to die for—”

“You ate it all yourself?” The taller man questions, taking the plate in between his fingers and watching that, indeed, the plate is halfway finished. “Shit, you smell like garlic.” Bringing his index and thumb to his nose, he plucks at his nostrils not to smell the garlic in her, and she has to raise her eyebrows at that.

“Doesn’t matter. I’ll just keep my mouth closed.”

Through a nasal tone, her best friend shakes his head. “You can’t.”

“Why not?” She says, blowing air into her rounded palm to feel her breath. Oof, boy, is it a good garlic.

“Because we’re about to play seven minutes in heaven and I want you to have a second chance at a first kiss since your first one sucked.” Fifteen, in the back of a cinema, with someone’s tongue down her throat and buttery fingertips running over her arms. It was horrid, and the thought alone of kissing someone else has her stomach churning. “I won’t pressure you to do it, but if the person you’re selected to go with is attractive to you,” He lets go of his nose, taking in a deep breath before smiling at her. “Go for it. You deserve to have a second try.”

Angel is not an adjective that would go with Yukhei’s name, but he is practical. “I’m not sure. I don’t want to offend anyone by saying no.”

“You’re not.” Yukhei says, swatting his hand in the air. “We’re all okay with it, and if you want to participate, you’re allowed to say no. We changed the rules. It’s consensual seven minutes in heaven. A classic for us.” Tugging at the sleeve of her oversized sweater, he drags her towards one of the bathrooms, rummaging through the glass cabinets until he finds some toothpaste. “But I need you to pour some of this on your finger and brush your teeth the best you can without a brush because I don’t want anyone tasting the garlic in your mouth. Thank you.”

Not enough objecting later and an endless pep-talk from Yukhei, she finds herself on a circle with some of her friends and classmates. Around twenty, to be exact, and the bottle had not landed on her yet. A few rounds pass by, and she’s left sipping on some soda to take the garlic breath away from her mouth—though bettered after half-brushing her teeth—, knees brought up to her chest when the bottle swings and she connects gazes with everyone on the circle.

Gravity makes it choice and when she looks down, the bottle is pointing at her, the other edge signaling towards Wong Kunhang.

Kunhang is not her closest friend, but he is cute. Big dark brown eyes, straight hair falling on the typical hairstyle on his forehead, dressed better than Yukhei in this occasion. A graphic t-shirt with some Star Wars quote and ripped jeans. His lips barely quirk up at the corner of his mouth when he looks up at her, her heart caged against her chest in fear of being denied.

Because Kunhang is a yes for her. She can’t say she would absolutely mind kissing him.

A shiver goes down her spine when Dia, one of the girls on the circle, claps her hands together and points to Kunhang after. “So, Kunhang, are you willing to get locked for seven minutes with your selected partner?”

Okay, this is it. This is the moment she feels like dissipating because one of the cutest guys in her class denies her. Maybe, he’ll stick his tongue out and pretend to vomit, or even worse, he’ll just shake his head and purse his lips, showing his disinterest—

“Yeah, of course.” He shrugs his shoulders, he does do that, but he sounds interested, quirking an eyebrow at her as his eyes twinkle. “Do you want to?”

The question is slow, enough to have her blinking a few times until Yukhei nudges her side with his bony elbow. “A—Ah, yes, I wouldn’t mind.”

“Sweet.” One of the guys says, deep voice following a high-five with Kunhang as the selected guy stands up and extends his hand towards her.

Shaking fingertips wrap around his, nervous beyond what she could explain. Yukhei had talked about this—kisses that were only meant to feel good, but she doesn’t think there should not be a reason for kissing. Clammy palms and tethering figure must have been made noticeable to Kunhang when they open the door to one of the closets, the lights turned off when they lock them inside, chest to chest, coats surrounding them in the cramped room.

With her heart practically racing out of her chest, Kunhang interlocks his fingers with hers, softly, speaking into the thin air: “We don’t have to kiss, you know?” He says, a chuckle following his words. “I’ll settle with a kiss on the cheek if that’s what you want.”

“W—Why do you say that?” She tries to grow accustomed to the dark room, but Kunhang’s eyes are nowhere to be seen in the dark.

“You’re shaking.”

Breathing out softly, she engulfs his palm with some strength. “I’m nervous.”

“Because of me?”

“Because of the kiss.” She mumbles out, feeling one of Kunhang’s hands pulling away from her hold to push her hair away from her shoulder, settling on her jaw softly. “I—I don’t think I enjoy kisses.”

Kunhang stays silent for a few seconds before quirking his head to the side, a confused noise leaving him. “You don’t?”

“They don’t feel good for me.”

“You’ve tried with various people?”

“One guy.”

“Who?”

“Woosung. He graduated last year.” Kunhang must not know him. Woosung was part of the soccer team, while he’s part of the debate club—

“Who the fuck trusts Woosung with a kiss?” He questions, voice levelled to have people believe they’re actually not just talking. “Isn’t that the guy who pees in the bushes instead of going to the bathroom like actual people?”

“He’s lazy.”

“It’s school. You can’t be that lazy.”

That relaxes her enough to chuckle, chest touching with his slim frame in the process. “Maybe, I just made a wrong choice.”

“Not a ‘maybe’. I’m certain.” Kunhang confesses, pushing his body forward the slightest, just one step, but enough to steal her breath away. “…What would you say if I told you I could do better? I mean, you could always compare and it could be a nice experience. You, you know, could consider this your first kiss.” He shrugs, and though she wants to continue talking, her eyes have finally settled to the dark and she sees the outline of his thin lips, too close for her not to notice them, not to want to taste them—

“Why not?”

Those are the two words that gave her the best kiss she’s ever had. Sweet, tranquil, patient, meant to feel good, to be relaxed and dizzying. Her palms extend to end on his waist, breathing in the scent of his perfume mixed with some spices, his hair tickling her face when he decides to deepen the kiss.

Most first kisses with someone are not perfect, but this one feels like it, taking every portion of her soul and claiming it as Kunhang’s. His hands settle on her waist, feeling feminine for once, as if she’s more than just a pair of lips to kiss—he has purpose on this, for them to feel good, connected beyond what anyone could have explained to her.

Wong Kunhang is one damn good kisser, even when he was just seventeen at the time.

And his sense of time is to envy, pulling away with a smile and a sly pop of his lips when he whispers, taking one last peck from her: “We have twenty seconds. I don’t want you to get caught.”

She barely has enough time to fix her hair and the sleeve of her sweater when Dia opens the door of the closet and beams at them.

“How was the kiss?”

Kunhang could have talked about how he dizzied her, made her feel better than any man but he went for the route he knew would be better for her instead.

“Wouldn’t know. We just talked.” Though, she’s not sure anyone believed him, lips rosy when he took his snapback and placed it backwards on his head, taking a seat on the circle once again with a smile on his face.

Dia wraps an arm around her shoulder, gasping at his words. “You just talked over there?”

Looking into her eyes, she finishes the conversation with a whispered: “I think we just needed to catch up.”

But her braincells hadn’t caught up to how insane she felt after kissing Kunhang.

So, that was what a real kiss was.

###

Her ribcage digs into the edge of the counter of the gym, pumped-up hip-hop music blaring from the speakers when she swipes through her phone screen. Worries, all accumulated inside her head, with the need to be voiced out, go from one corner of her brain to the other as she swipes through her screen, refreshing the website that had given her some peace of thought when it came to solitude.

How would Kunhang react had he known the reality of it all? Had he known that H.W had made her feel better? They never had that connection; that thing that she had with Yukhei where she could approach him and endlessly talk about topics with no judgement inside her heart. Not because she feared his words would pierce through her with stigmas, but because the distance between them was based on her attraction towards him. Always relaxed, honest, living a day at a time…seemingly unworried.

So, she continues to talk to him, in hopes to be read, to get a glimmer of his heart and head once again even when the website’s inbox is closed.

I don’t know why I’m writing to you again, or well, I really do.

H.W, have you ever made a mess so big you don’t know how to put the pieces together? Have you ever hidden in hopes of no one seeing you? I’m sure not a lot of people have. Here I am, hiding from the man I don’t want to date while I’m unable to tell him to just fuck off.

See, something you should know about me, apart from loveless, I’m also a coward.

The first thing I thought about was writing something to you. I know this is part of your project and you may not read me again, but whatever, I just need to let this out with someone…

Do you, oh so wise love master, have some list of ways to break things off with someone who you’re not really dating but you don’t want to see anymore because you didn’t want to see them on the first place?

Asking for a friend.

Or, not. Definitely asking for myself.

I’m a mess.

Dearly,

Loveless Anon.

P.S: Should I start calling myself Dumbass Anon? Fits better, IMO.

With that, she shrinks at the sight of Leo entering the establishment, the heels of her palms digging onto the tiles to get away from the main area and into the office at the back, closing the door behind her with a soft swish.

She’s sure of one thing, she doesn’t want to kiss that man again.

###

“What does…?” Plopping the red lollipop from between his lips, Mrs. Ling’s grandson, Lu, swings his feet back and forth while seated on the bench in his grandmother’s garden. Mrs. Ling had married a wealthy man back in her day, when her ninety-year-old bones didn’t creak whenever she walked, hence the family has a wealthy lifestyle. “What does Pikachu turn into once he grows up?”

Lu may be trying to say the word ‘evolve’, and this entire obsession for Pokémon may have come from the constant singing of the theme song towards the plants with the kid around, but with the sun beaming down his features, keeping him reddened under the limelight, Kunhang hums. “That’s be Raichu.”

Pouring water fills the silence around them until Lu pouts out his plump bottom lip, his long dark bowl-cut moving with the wind. The seven-year-old is adorable, he’ll give him that. “But Pikachu never changes in the show…”

Turning around, he stops watering the plants, a smile taking over his features when he says: “Maybe, because he doesn’t want to change.”

“But who wouldn’t want to be a stronger Pikachu?”

That question makes him think back to his website. It’s been a while since he last checked for it, inbox closed and project running, but all he can think about is Loveless Anon. She wanted to be better at love, without realizing there is no bettering what is just meant to happen.

“Strength is not everything, kid.” Kunhang replies, tucking a strand of his hair behind his ear. “Sometimes, all we need is our friends. Or people who want to be by our sides. What’s the point of being better if you can’t be better with your people?”

That has Lu thinking for a few seconds, his Pikachu plushie placed on his lap, his chin resting on its head and Kunhang resumes to watering the plants, twenty minutes left on the clock before he has to rush out of there.

“Are you Raichu or Pikachu?”

That moment, Kunhang wants to laugh. Well, the metaphors are now connected to a kid’s show. “Like, a Feebas. Unique, but no one really gives a…thing about me.”

Lu’s eyes twinkle when he stands up from his spot. “I have a Feebas in my game.”

“You do?”

“Yes.” Lu nods. “It’s cool, like you. I want to be like you when I grow up, HangHang.”

When a plate breaks, the sound perpetrates each portion of a person’s body. It shatters to the point of bringing fear onto someone. Yet, that dulling noise settles inside his ears, confusing him when he sees Lu enter the spacious home and rush up the set of stairs. A kid, a whole rich kid who plays Pokémon a little too much had told him that he wanted to be like him?

Now, that’s one of the best things that has happened to Kunhang in a while.

And maybe, it’s about time he feels proud of what he has done. A website, along with his friends. A project now developed, that doesn’t sound too bad. He’s midway through his career. A good friend, a nice son, an annoying brother…he’s a lot of things, but he never stops and thinks about the change he can make into someone’s life.

That’s how he ends his job a bit early, with ten minutes on the clock as he takes a seat on that bench Lu had taken place on, rummaging through the website to see if Loveless Anon had written something else to him.

Nonetheless, he didn’t expect for her to actually reply to him.

Thus, taking into consideration that the website includes the option of personal replies, he starts writing.

Be honest. That’s the key to life.

You know, I don’t think you’re a dumbass. I have a friend who is just like you. She’s…amazing, but she doesn’t realize it in most occasions. If ever. I think if the guy you’re seeing is an absolute asshole, prepare with all your might, make something grand that sits his ass down in place and have a great time at it (record it if you do embarrass him, I love watching assholes have a hard time).

But hey, if he’s a nice dude, just sit him down and talk about it. Say you don’t feel the way he wants you to feel and move on.

I don’t think being a coward is inherent to us. We can change it, you know?

Or, contract H.W to do it for you. Would love to!

P.S: I really like the name Loveless Anon. It sounds so aesthetic. I can imagine it on Pinterest posts between hearts.

Talk to me sometime, maybe off anon dude,

H.W.

Though, when he lifts his gaze, he hears the sound of someone falling onto the bushes of the garden, he stands up with a frown on his face.

Oh, please don’t tell him he’s about to be part of a robbery—

###

People of the world, jot down the rule number one of living in your notebooks…

Don’t break up with a rich person while being on their car. Don’t break up with a man with an ego so huge it’s bigger than his nonexistent ass. Those are two rules, but with a comma in between, they can be added together.

Leo’s sharp eyes had managed to find her today and with his incessant need to get her out to buy some ice cream for her, a wet kiss pressed to her lips without her desire, she decided it was time. You know, how in movies the side character who is best friends with the real main character opts that enough is enough and they’re going to evolve.

Well, this didn’t go so well.

What she had said, five minutes ago was: “I don’t think we should be seeing each other. Ever. I just…ah, it doesn’t work for me, I guess?”

So, that’s where the pleading started, his plush lips spitting out the truths that he guesses about her—that she was so into their kisses, so devoted to him, so simply head over heels that he couldn’t believe she was spitting out such lies.

“Leo, I’m fucking honest. It’s over.” With her patience running short, her fingers hook around the handle of the door, ready to jump out of the car if necessary. The man is not even looking ahead of the road when he comes to a clear, abrupt stop.

“You’re such a needy little bitch.” Finally, his true colors are shown and she has to lift her eyebrows at the sentence that left his lips. “You think that just because you’re half cute, you get to treat people like shit. It has always been like this—”

“Well, you were the one trying it out with me. You were pushy, Leo.”

“You said yes,” He shrugs, unlocking the doors of his expensive car, an eye-roll following after. “What are you, stupid? Now I have to read between the lines with bitches because there are people like you that don’t know what they want?”

That is the brink of the iceberg, the tip, making her chuckle as she opens the door of the car. “I know what I want,” She starts. “And it has never been you. I dated you because you were all over the place, asking me out.”

“Out of pity.” Leo conquers. “No one wants to date you because you’re fucking impossible to deal with.”

“Okay then! I’m better off not dating if that means not seeing people like you.”

When she closes the door of the car, the swooshing motion of the windows opening has it pulling down. “Get back in the car.”

“I won’t.”

“Get back in the fucking car before I tell everyone just how much of a bitch you are.”

“I don’t care. Not about you, not about your opinion.”

Though, when she hears his wheels whirling and the man moving backwards, she starts running, fearful of what his tainted ego could do. Rocks splattered on the sidewalk may have been enough to make her lose her footing as she looks over her shoulder, someone’s gates digging onto her sternum for the briefest second when she falls, lunching forward and inside a house.

Well, what a way to end things coolly.

Curled leaves fall against her hair, the harshness of a hose plastered against her waist when she lets out a curt sigh. She swears she hears footsteps, but with the sun beaming down on her eyes and the fall corrupting every portion of her muscles, her ears barely make out the noise until someone’s strong fingertips wrap around her arms and bring her up, stomach folded, eyes widening when she sees the person in front of her.

He calls out her name at the same time that she whispers out a tiny: “Kunhang?”

For once, the sun has done him justice, scarlet streaks of embarrassment and heat transcending from his cheeks to his neck when a big smile takes over his features. “You’re trying to rob my employer’s house?”

“God, no.” She shakes her head, her own hands resting on his shoulders to straighten her back and get up as skillfully as she can while hurt from the fall. “No, no, I would never.”

“Then, explain this very inappropriate way of entering someone’s house.” Thus, she knows he is joking around with her, arms folded across his chest when she sighs deeply.

She has written to him under the name of Loveless Anon, maybe because she was scared of saying it out loud—that the only man she has ever enjoyed kissing and hasn’t lost attraction to is him. There, with the fear of being judged for being so fucking easy to read, for him to know that things with Leo weren’t working out, she decides to speak up.

“Leo was following me around with his car after I broke things off with him.” Resting her hands on the depth of her pockets, she shrugs. “Well, or he could have just driving off, but with how angry he was…I thought…”

“What did he tell you?” Through gritted teeth, he hunts for answers, jaw tightened on his hold.

“Called me a bitch. Said something about me being impossible—”

“Oh, of course he would.” Kunhang rolls his eyes, pure exasperation following his scoff when she decides to interrupt him.

“It was my fault. I shouldn’t have dated just because, it was bad.”

He quirks an eyebrow at that, before humming softly. “You’ve got a point. I can’t say it wasn’t your fault.” He replies. “But that doesn’t give him a reason to treat you badly, much less make you jump into someone’s house.”

“That was a reflex.”

Placing one hand on top of her head, Kunhang chuckles. “I don’t care. That asshole doesn’t get to treat you like that.” With that, he gives one step away from her, the warmth of him replaced by the sun when he goes pick up his backpack. “Is he out there?”

She knows how tight Kunhang’s schedule is, so she shakes her head. “I doubt he is. I—I will just walk home.”

“I can’t offer you a car ride, but I won’t let you leave on your own. What if he’s out there, all pissed off?” With that, he tosses his helmet towards her, caught through nimble fingers when he gives her a smile. “We’re going on my super bicycle. Batman had his car, I have my bicycle.”

Though the sentence warms her heart, she can’t accept it. “Kunhang, you’re going to run late to work—”

“Consider it a calf workout. I need them to get stronger.” With the way he rests a hand in between her shoulder blades, moving her away from the garden and saying his goodbyes over his shoulder, her mind can already make out his positive answer to taking her home.

“Your legs are fine.”

“You think so?” Kunhang asks, a hint of a blush on his cheeks. “So, the ladies say.”

“Oh, come on.” She nudges his side with her elbow. “Too much time with Yukhei is making you go all Casanova.”

“Please. I’m not in Yukhei’s level.”

“Thank God.”

In a cramped little bicycle with the world swishing around them, her arms wrap around his taut waist, her head lulled against his back when she takes in the scent of him, the spice that she may never forget, relishing on his softness and the way he never stops talking, sometimes in a deeper voice when he doesn’t notice. It’s purely him, the guy in the closet with her that one time years ago.

It’s H.W.

It’s not a surprise when guilt washes over her when she gets home, Kunhang not having much time for conversation as he rushes—quite late—to his next job. Upon seeing her apartment complex, she looks down at her phone, seeing a notification from the website he created.

Would he still reply to her if he knew it was her?

###

You know that game people play before graduation, a little bit before prom? Most likely to become president or to get married? Well, Yangyang should’ve won the title ‘most likely to become high on one sip of caffeine but still be goddamn addicted.’

Fits him like a glove.

Fresh coffee beans, Styrofoam cups, wiped tables and soft jazz, Kunhang has learned the art of caffeine against his will. With his eyes half closing, he tries not to pour down the coffee that he is serving Yukhei’s roommate this early in the morning. With his apron digging into his stomach, his hair done a mess and his eyelashes fluttering against his under-eyes, he feels like Yangyang is another kind of specimen. If his guesses are not wrong, Yangyang may have not even slept the entire night.

The balls of his feet make him move back and forth by the time Kunhang turns around, the barista is midway through a yawn when he scribbles a quick heart on top of Yangyang’s coffee and sends it over his way.

“You look horrible,” Yangyang spits out, thankfully the last in line. With relaxation filling his bones, Kunhang rests his elbow on the counter, head lulling to the side while delicately closing his eyes. “Maybe, you should start tidying up. My roomie is about to get here any second.”

With pursed lips and a tired scoff, Kunhang replies: “Why would I give a shit about what Yukhei thinks? He’s seen me this tired since forever.”

But Yangyang is smart, with his cat-like smile, pushed back hair and oversized hoodie, he doesn’t look like a nightmare, but he goddamn right is intuitive and a headache, much more when he spits out her name and has Kunhang straightening his back, looking around the room in suspicion.

“Guilty as charged, I see.”

“T—That doesn’t mean a thing.” Kunhang tries to chuckle, shrugging his shoulders in the process. “I’m just not used…to looking bad…in front of people who are not my closest friends?” His voice sounds like a goddamned question. Fuck, why can’t he simply sound more relaxed?

Truth is, he has one of those bad cases of underthinking. When all he can think about is one person. These past few weeks, he has checked that goddamned website, with the little time he has left, and he has looked forward to talking to Loveless Anon. For, it feels like he is talking to her, and that kind of connection has never come around.

He’s a coward. He kissed her in a closet during the lamest game in the world and he could never ask her out. Partly because he expected her to say something, admit that it was a good kiss and wasn’t like the others, and another part of him was just a tad bit scared. Of the awkwardness, for example, that could come in their friend group and with Yukhei if they just happened to see each other that way and break up.

“So, the myth has it—” Yangyang takes a sip of his drink. “That you two kissed when you were like seventeen.”

Kunhang’s eyes settle on a figure at the far distance, bustling laughter and clapping hands of men making him frown. Isn’t that Leo…? He returns his gaze to Yangyang. “Who told you that?”

“You know, like, that one time last Christmas when we got stuck at the campus and you were, like, drunk off your ass?” Kunhang nods. “I asked you who was a better kisser between two girls you dated and you told me her name, and she wasn’t even in the list.”

“I was drunk.” Kunhang tries to chuckle the matter away.

“So, she wasn’t a good kisser?” Yangyang waves his eyebrows on his forehead, up and down. “Or should I test it myself just so we have a reaction out of you and you finally ask her out? Because you’re hot, she’s hot. Hot plus hot makes hotter.”

The older man shakes his head, pondering if he should go to that goddamned table that included Leo and his friends. He’s not sure if he wants her to see him, so it’s better to simply attend them and get them out of the way. Running his hands over his apron, he walks away from his spot behind the counter.

“That actually makes two hot. Hot plus hot makes two hot, not hotter.”

“Nerd talk doesn’t get the girls, bro.” Yangyang conquers with a wave of his hand.

“Oh, and you’re not kissing her.”

With a scrunched-up face and a faked gag, he nods. “Of course, I won’t. I’ve heard that woman fart, I’m not sure if I see her that way, or any way.”

“You really expect your future partner not to fart in front of you?”

“I expect them to make me fall in love hard enough for me not to care about their stinky farts.”

He laughs, patting Yangyang’s shoulder before speaking. “Listen, Leo is right over there and I hadn’t even noticed. Now, I want you not to let her inside if she gets here. I don’t want her seeing that dude.”

For a second, Yangyang’s brown eyes widen before catching a glimpse of the man by the table before nodding. “You’ve got it. We’re distracting her and making mortadella out of his dick.”

“Not really.” Kunhang spits out, but he points at his friends. “But I like your way of thinking.”

Very rarely does Kunhang feel petrified, in spot, as if the world around him is going miles per minutes and he’s stuck in half a mile. His chest contracts when he gets his notepad out of his pocket, only to hear the obscenities that left Leo’s lips, a smirk forever plastered on his face.

“You should’ve seen her face when I was fucking her.” 

He listens, loud and clear, every little detail that Leo presumably fakes, that boosts his ego and have his friends leaning on the table to hear about him from up close. The man barely looks up from the menu on his hands or stops talking about the ‘little noises she made’—his words, not Kunhang’s—when he recognizes the man in front of him. Barely concealing his grin, he continues speaking.

“She doesn’t look like the type.” One of his friends says, laughing in the most obnoxious of ways as he folds the sleeves of his red t-shirt for the umpteenth time, all in hopes of showing his muscles. “But atta boy, you got to fuck her in less than a month. Congrats.”

Maybe, he should’ve thought rationally. He could lose his job for what he does next…but who is he kidding? This is the rational thing to do. Take the used coffee cup on one of the abandoned tables, pull the back of Leo’s shirt away from his neck and soon after, pour the entirety of the sipped on, cold, perhaps rancid coffee down his shirt to hear him gasp and pull away from the table with a harsh tug.

There is goes.

Revenge and karma are fucking dating, and for a reason.

“Oh no. No. No. No.” He swears he hears Yangyang saying when he gets closer, but Leo, with his taller height, has already grasped the front of Kunhang’s shirt, breathing a little too closely.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

“Cooling you off.” Kunhang replies, quirking one of his eyebrows in the process. “You were getting a little horny out of your spank-bank imagination, so I needed to stop your shit.”

Before Leo could push him backwards, his fist goes forward, knocking him on his sculpted abdomen before pulling away. “Is this what this shit is about?” He questions, though when he lifts his hand to hit Kunhang, he swats it away with ease. Too much muscle, not a lot of strength. “You’re angry I fucked your friend?”

Yangyang takes this moment to butt in. “I’m not the type to fight but you definitely didn’t fuck her.”

“You were there?”

“I know you didn’t.” Kunhang replies for Yangyang, though it’s more of a prayer. If this man ever dared lay a finger on her, he’s going to lose his mind. Maybe, because someone like him shouldn’t have kissed her on the first place. “Man, everyone who saw you with her could tell that she wasn’t really into you. Get over it.”

A punch lays on Kunhang’s cheekbone, burning bright and hurting the slightest, his hand coming to the side to cradle the pained skin. “What do you fucking know?”

With the doors of the café opening and some customers still gaping at them, he hears the sound of someone getting closer, a low voice adding:

“Now I know enough.” And from the way she speaks, Kunhang could only curse at himself for what she saw. A beanie rests on her head, her face stoic, the rest of her clothing comfortable and ready for a coffee meeting with her roommate, but that had to be ruined by this asshole. “You didn’t fuck me, and I’m so thankful I decided not to do anything else with you. So, you can talk all the shit you want about me, I don’t care. Tell everyone about what we didn’t do or create a fucking story, but don’t you dare lay a hand on him again, you get me?”

Shivering from the cold brewed coffee on his back, Leo says: “You are insane!”

“Well, yeah, now you know my second name.”

“Out.” Kunhang says, pointing at the door, skin tainted on his cheekbone, hurting like a madman. Maybe, he spoke about Leo’s strength quite too soon. “Out of my establishment right now.”

“Whatever.” Leo spits out, picking up his backpack before pointing with his chin towards the door. “Let’s go, boys.”

By the time the doors open and close behind the group of men, wheels of his car whirling at his high speed, he hears Yangyang clapping his hands once before saying, in the softest tone:

“Who would’ve thought dumbass Wong Kunhang had it in him to be badass?”

Scoffing, she turns to look at Kunhang, sitting him down where Leo had taken place on pink leather accompanied by a white table before inspecting his face with soft fingertips. He really tries his hardest not to concentrate on her face, her tainted lips and sweet eyes when she studies his features.

“That’s not badass. That’s stupid.” She conquers, opening her bag and getting a cloth out before talking to Yangyang. “Bring me some water. It must be killing him—”

Saluting her, Yangyang hums. “On it.”

“It wasn’t stupid.” Kunhang hisses when she digs her fingers onto his cheekbones, palping around. “That asshole was lying about you and I couldn’t handle it. I’m sorry, but with how much it takes you to trust someone and how much you pressured yourself to like him, I didn’t think it was fair for him to treat you as if you were a toy. I don’t think it’s okay.”

Silence falls upon her, only opening her lips when Yangyang brings her a bottle of water. Somehow, the youngest understands to get away from the situation, not the annoying one by the time she pours some water on the cloth and presses it to Kunhang’s bruised skin.

“Did you believe him?”

Kunhang shakes his head. “No.” He denies softly, hissing at the pain. “But even if you had done something with him, that doesn’t give him the benefit to talk about it as if it wasn’t something you two did. As if most people don’t get involved in shit like that. No one cares—”

A little smile tugs at the corner of her lips, pushed away by her worry. “And the coffee stain?”

“I poured coffee on him.”

“Why?”

“He was talking on detail and hearing all those guys thirst over you in that light. I don’t know…” Kunhang looks over to the side, a chuckle leaving his lips. “Not that I hope no one feels attracted to you, I know a lot of people do. I sure hope you get, at least, twenty guys in your DM’s every time you post a picture because it’s the hype you deserve…but I don’t want, you know…”

“You don’t want what?”

“I don’t want you to date just whoever.” Kunhang finalizes, raising his hands in the air. “But it’s not my call and I have to accept it, because I want your utmost happiness above all…but come on? A gym rat that talks about sex and hitting it from the back even if you were absolutely repulsed to kiss him? You can do so much better—”

The moment she wraps her arms around him, he doesn’t expect it. Truth is, every action of her being tugs at his heart strings in ways that he can’t understand. The warm nature of her hug when she rests her chin on his shoulder and rests her hands on his back has his own arm coming upwards, engulfing her and resting his fingertips on her head.

“You’re not meant to be my knight in shining armor, you know?”

“I don’t mean to be that.” Kunhang whispers, pulling away to tenderly trail his gaze over her face. “I know you can take care of yourself perfectly fine. Jump into some old lady’s house on the way, too.”

“…You’re such a fool.” Rolling her eyes, she lets her thumb trail over his cheekbone. “And a cute fool, but now you look like Prince Charming after getting on the boxing ring with Canelo Alvarez.”

“I stopped listening after cute.” Batting his eyelashes, Kunhang stands up at that moment. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to continue working. May I know, our beloved customer, what your coffee order for today is?”

Fixing the hoodie over her head, she pouts out her lips when saying: “Cinnamon coffee, please? And one for you, too. You look exhausted.”

Someone please put a wall up before she gets to his much-too-busy life and heart.

### 

The world falls from her eyes, tired beyond what she could express, entering her last year of her psychology major and still, feeling unprepared. Maybe, that’s the endless minds of adults—losing confidence with each step they give into forever. Her fingers rake through her hair with the light of Yukhei’s laptop casting over her face as she reads through the last version of his shared project with Kunhang.

And maybe, in this room, she feels a bit guilty—divided in a way that she can’t quite explain. She’s not doing anything wrong, but connecting with Kunhang only through a website makes her feel ridiculous. Maybe, here where she is sitting, reading the conclusions, she starts to think there would have been no way for Kunhang to talk to her had it not been under a pseudonym and somehow, it’s the harshest pill to swallow.

Closing her eyes tightly, she taps her finger against the last sentence of the document before humming. “Proud of you, giant.” She says, voice as dulcet as it can be when treating with her roommate, turning to him with a faint smile on her features. Yukhei rests against the doorframe of her room, sporting some plaid pajamas and his blonde hair done a mess. “It’s good. You took the corrections I gave you and wrote a nice project, and the conclusions are great—”

“Did you read Kunhang’s?” He questions, her grin faltering the slightest.

She did, indeed. While Yukhei had concentrated on issues according to unemployment and how it affected people’s social lives, Kunhang had gone straight for love and how pressuring it feels for young adults to find the love of their lives.

Maybe, Loveless Anon had something to do with that.

“I read the entire project. Can’t wait for you guys to get the best grade.”

“That’s not what I’m asking, dummy.” Yukhei gets closer to her, kneeling in front of her computer seat before tugging at the edge and pulling her away from the desk. He needs her utmost attention, as it seems. “You want me to believe, me Wong Yukhei, that you’re not that Loveless Anon that Kunhang has been talking to for the past two months ago?”

Trying to look for an answer, she comes with the smallest one, barely let out through her half-parted lips. “So, what about it?”

Yukhei widens his eyes at that. “Oh shit, I was right.”

Well, there goes Yukhei guessing and doing it right for once. “…You were guessing.”

“And, I guessed right. I am really not as dumb as people think I am.” Yukhei chuckles at his own words, patting his hand against her knee. “So, when are you going to confess it all to him? Like, in one of those coming-of-age movies that we see or in those Hong Kong romance movies where—”

“Never.”

“What?”

Perhaps, Yukhei thinks of this as a movie. That romances in college last, or that either of them has the time to actually date each other. Not only that, but her own cowardly nature that had preferred to write under an anon name rather than talk to him in the way they did two months ago.

She once learned probabilities, she really did—and while she can read people, she can read situations even better. Kunhang and herself are not probable; they are not a match made in heaven and neither can they be friends. Not after that kiss. Not because they have a friend in common, Yukhei in this case, that would be absolutely devastated if he lost one or the other.

“Listen, it’s going to be weird because…I don’t know, I guess the letters feel a bit obvious about me flirting with him and—”

“And, so what?” Yukhei questions, his hands coming up to his hair when he stands up to pace back and forth. “Throughout the entirety of these two months, you’ve questioned yourself for never being attracted enough to a guy, for never wanting a guy as much as they want you but now, for the first time in years, you are interested in a guy whom you’ve kissed and you’d kiss again. Shit, why the hell aren’t you telling him and testing the waters?!”

“It isn’t that easy.” Closing the Word document with Yukhei’s project, she turns to look through the PDF book she should be reading for a class. “What if he’s not interested?”

“Oh, trust me. Kunhang thinks you’re hot.”

“That isn’t enough, Yukhei.” Though, heat fills her face once she rests her palm on her cheek, trying to hide away from her best friend. “What if he doesn’t want the same thing I do?”

“Then, you can say you tried.”

For a moment, those words repeat inside her head, with the memories—though definitely in group of friends—in between the two and the smiles shared, but she shakes her head before she can think of it any further.

“Thanks for the concern, Yukhei, but I’d rather pluck all of my eyelashes out than go through the embarrassment of being rejected by Kunhang. Bye.”

“He’s not going to reject you.” He tries to reason. “But if he did, then he’s the one losing you. Not you losing him.”

Even through it all, the hardships of college, the stress of adulthood, she can say she has someone taking care of her.

“I said bye, giant.”

“I’m not—”

“I’ll delete your Word document with your entire project if you don’t leave, Yukhei.” She adds, with humor in her tone. “And I know you don’t back your shit up.”

When he opens the door to leave, she hears a faint whisper leaving his deep voice: “You’re evil, woman.”

###

The air around his lungs feels less constricting when seated on that table in his social science class, grasping his last test in between his fingers, his project revised and approved by the professor, ending up on second place in the entire class.

This is the grade that could make him pass.

Or, alternatively, that could mean more money for university.

Kunhang has always prided on the fact that he’s confident, but with shaky fingertips and weaving eyes, he doesn’t know what to think about. Dejun’s face has softened sufficiently, meaning he has done well and of course, star of the class—somehow—Wong Yukhei is not worried.

“Come on, man.” Yukhei pats his hand against the back of his head, harsher than intended. “It’ll be fine. You’ve stupid like crazy.”

And that’s what scares him. For the first time, Kunhang has put his all and a bit more, waiting for the best outcome, but by the way his stomach twists and turns, his mind lightweight, it’s impossible for him to pass this class. No matter how hard he works, Mr. Sam wouldn’t be nice enough to grade him properly.

“Yeah, I guess.” Kunhang mumbles, turning the page around until it meets his gaze, like a glass of cold water falling on his face and awakening him. The most beautiful moments of life are not those who are perfect, but when his head felt like it was underwater and he managed to rise again.

Eighty.

Kunhang got an eighty in his last test.

“I fucking passed!” The smile on his face reads a thousand shades of sunshine when he plasters the exam down on the desk and brings his hands up his features, upwards towards the strands of his brown hair.

He can breathe again.

###

From: Min Chaeryeong.

Come pick me up at Dejun’s place.

Just broke up with him.

That asshole.

Never again, girl. Never again.

Romance movies paint it so beautifully. There’s a beginning, a limitation, a resolution and an end—well, a prolongated end in the form of happily ever after. What they never expect is for the secondary character to be rushing through the streets in order to get to Dejun’s place, looking for her best friend who had been on a long relationship only for it to end in an abrupt night of July, with a text that worries her to bits and pieces.

Her hair swishes with the movement of her hands opening the entrance door, greeting some of the students in the apartment complex before going up the set of stairs. Sneakers clanking against the tiles after coming from her workplace, her stomach roars in hunger and yet, she can only worry about Chaeryeong. Would she be crying endlessly? She knows, better than anyone, that Chaeryeong and Dejun love each other, or used to, at the very least…but if they can’t work together, then so be it.

She pulls the hood of her white sweater off her head, knocking on Dejun’s door a few times only to come up with silence. Her ear presses to the orange wood, wanting to listen to, at least, the whisper of the aftereffects of a fight, but it’s silent. Could they have gone somewhere else?

Her phone slips out of her pocket when she writes back.

To: Min Chaeryeong.

Chae, I’m here.

Where are you?

What happened?

Open the door.

From: Min Chaeryeong.

It’s open.

I’m in the closet with Dejun.

Come pick me up before I slice his nuts in half.

Okay, now that is a sign for her to open the door as quickly as she can.

The handle slides from her fingertips quickly, managing to take off her shoes in a swift motion before walking through the elongated hallway. None of Dejun’s roommates are anywhere to be around, not even his dog, Bella, but she does know where the closet can be found. Third door on the right, next to Dejun’s room.

Picking up Chaeryeong after staying over at Dejun’s place had been normal occurrence more than once, after all.

Maybe, it’s the worry for her two friends, the aspiring voice full of ambition that tells her she can save the day, but she opens the door of the closet. Darkened walls and not a single light in sight, the cramped space welcomes her body, door swinging closed behind her until she hears a small whine in a manly voice, a man standing up just when he hears the door closing.

“No!” But by the movement the visitor made—clearly Kunhang, now that she hears his voice—, caused for his chest to be pressed to hers, his left arm extending to stop the door from closing a little too late. Well, Kunhang is here, but—

“Where are Chae and Dejun?”

Kunhang pulls away at that, crossing his arms over his chest, glimmers of sweat dancing across his forehead and temple before sighing. “They’re in the other room, celebrating their anniversary by playing some fucking prank on us but for some reason, they locked me up in here and said you’d come in any second. The handle doesn’t work from the inside.”

“Fuck!” She curses, trying the handle out just when she hears Kunhang plop himself down on the flooring. “Why would they lock us in here?”

This sounds oddly familiar, and by the way Kunhang tugs at the collar of his shirt to wave some air towards himself, they could fry themselves from the heat here. “I have no idea.”

A knock on the door makes her look up, only to hear Dejun’s voice. “Because you two have something to tell each other and—”

“Chaeryeong, Dejun, you either get us out of here or I swear I will kick this door down!” Knowing the reason why she is here doesn’t make her feel any better. All of this just for her to admit that she’s Loveless Anon? Not a chance. She won’t stay here to make a fool of herself or die in the process. “Are you fucking out of your minds?”

“Well, everything with you guys has always started with a closet, so.” Chaeryeong is so dead for doing this to her— “I’ll give you seven minutes. If nothing happens, well, we’ll quit and accept we are just being stupid. If something happens, you’re welcome.”

“Chae!” Banging her fist against the door, she doesn’t hear anything else more than footsteps and the start of a timer, making her sigh deeply.

“Something to tell me?” Kunhang questions, voice low and soft before releasing a scoff. “Okay, you can tell me whatever. I won’t judge you. I just don’t want to suffocate in here because I think I’ve been here for five minutes or so and I’m—”

“I—I don’t know what to tell you!” She replies back, taking a seat next to him on the flooring before crossing her legs. “It’s really nothing. Like, it’s not a big deal.”

Turning to her, face closer than ever, he sighs through his nostrils. “They think it’s a big deal. So, it should be…”

“Listen, it’s…” With the scent of him engulfing her and her heart racing inside her chest, she thinks about how much of a coward she has been. Closed up and pulling away from him, even not saying anything to him that one time they kissed years ago. It was as if it didn’t happen, afraid of the consequences to the point she never tried to understand what that kiss meant. “You know, I’ve always…shit, I don’t know how to say this.”

“Just say it.” Kunhang laughs, using the back of his hand to wipe the sweat off his forehead. “I promise I won’t judge. Unless it’s something really bad.”

What does he consider really bad?

“I’ve been confused for years. I thought that…that I’d never like someone for a long period of time. I guess, I wouldn’t ever be interested in someone for more than a week and it made me feel like the biggest bitch. And not in the good sense,” Turning to look at him, she rakes her eyes over his features. Twinkling eyes, rosy lips and understanding nature. “So, what did I do? I pushed myself away from ever feeling like that and I would’ve been perfectly fine with it had it not been for that one time at that party when I was curious to kiss you. I did, as you can remember.”

Kunhang lets his gaze fall down to her lips, chuckling in the process. Soft. Tender. “I do, of course.”

“And this is bad, really bad, but I compared every kiss after to you and part of me always wondered, as I was kissing other men, if I would only like to be kissed by you or how could I teach someone to kiss me like you did…and I’d feel even worse.” Her voice becomes duller, fluttering eyelashes from endless blinking. “So, that night you told me it wasn’t my fault, I was curious, again. I couldn’t believe that I was still stupid enough to be hung up on you, but I couldn’t talk about this with anyone. Shit, Yukhei is one of your best friends…”

“You really thought of me as your best kiss?” Kunhang questions, pointing with his index finger towards his taut chest. She nods once.

“I really thought I could learn how to come to terms with the fact that romance and kissing isn’t that big of a deal if I just talked to someone like you. You’re so relaxed all the fucking time and…” This time around, her throat contracts, not finding the words to say. Her eyelids close tightly when she breathes out: “I became Loveless Anon, because I wanted to know your opinion about it.”

For one second, Kunhang remains silent, a house of cards that has fallen onto the weight of realization, but then, laughter comes from him, barely audible when he shakes his head.

“I knew you were Loveless Anon.”

She widens her eyes at that, inspecting his impressed features. “You did?”

“The speech was the same as yours. And you only replied at times when I know you weren’t working or studying. It had to be you. Same issues, too.” Who would have thought that Kunhang would have guessed it from the beginning? “I didn’t want to believe it at first…but when I started to reply to you more often, I just knew. Every time I pressed enter on those messages, I thought of you.”

“Holy fuck.” She whispers, covering her face with her hands as sweet laughter leaves her lips. “I was mortified, Kunhang.”

His fingertips wrap around her wrists, uncovering her face when he beams at her face “Why? Why? You shouldn’t have been stressing out about this.” He whispers, cradling both hands in between his. “I should be the one stressing out because I never said anything either—and I really liked that kiss back then, too.”

“You don’t have to say it just because I did.” She laughs, trying to shrug the embarrassment that creeps up on her away. It’s impossible for him to have thought of that kiss in a closet to be something he enjoyed, much more compared with the number of women that were in his life during college after. “It’s okay, really. You’re just a really good kisser and you should know that—”

His arm wraps around her waist, bringing her forward to rest his lips against hers, his chest to hers when he turns to left to peck her lips softly. Delicately. Her eyes are barely closed by the time he pulls away, though from the brief glimpse of light from under the door, she can see that his eyelids have denied her the benefit of looking into his powerful eyes.

What she doesn’t expect is for him to press another softer, longer peck to her lips, her hands melting against his touch and resting on his chest, curling onto his side when she’s the one to pull away this time. Her sweater becomes his axis, curled into his fist when he leans in one last time, a sharp intake of breath following his actions when he deepens the kiss, his free hand resting on her shoulder, caressing the skin over the fabric.

Her own hands end up on his long hair, lips melting against her own, dancing with fervor, necessity, yet not picking up his pace—as if he has all the time in the world and he would rather spend it with her. Her fingertips go lower, to his jawline, burning skin scalding her own, sharp under her touch when he softly breathes against her skin, a sound captured on the back of his throat.

“You’re stupid, you know that?” He says over her lips, making her chuckle before resting another peck on his skin, hiding her face on his neck soon after.

“What a thing to tell a girl after you’ve kissed her.”

“I could’ve been kissing you since way before this, but you had to make things complicated.” His fingers tingle against her skin, even when he’s still holding her waist above the thick hoodie, and when she pulls away, she hears him speak again, timbre low. “Still as good as you remembered it?”

“Just as good.”

“Not better?”

“You’re still very patient. I’ve always liked that.” She grasps his face in between her hands, looking into his eyes. “No one kisses like that anymore.”

“Is this the ‘getting the guy I’m dating’s ego as big as Jupiter’ challenge?”

Her eyebrows frown at his words, his lips dancing along her own once again, spine curved the slightest to join him in the middle before laughter interrupts their kiss. “Since when am I dating someone?”

“Oh, right now.” Kunhang’s confidence, ever-present, becomes apparent when he pats her ribcage. “You can’t just expect a guy not to want to date you, the most beautiful woman I’ve seen in a while, when you tell him he’s the best kiss you’ve ever had.” He shrugs. “You owe me four years of dates and kissing.”

“Okay, alright. Fair. You’ve got yourself a deal.”

“And we get to kiss on places outside a closet.” Kunhang stipulates. “I’m sweating my ass off.”

“That’s so romantic.” Sarcastically, she adds, only to hear keys dangling outside the closet.

“You guys have talked it out?” Dejun asks from the other side of the door, only to have Kunhang standing up, knocking on the door.

“Yeah.” He says, pressing his forehead to the door. “But you better open this door up before you have a talk with the foot that I’m going to put up your ass.”

“Alright. Talk time is over. Time to let the dogs out.” Dejun tells someone, presumably Chaeryeong, before he opens the door to the closet, not missing out on the way Kunhang wraps his arm around his neck and keeps him locked in place. “Ow!”

“Are you crazy?!”

“You two talked it out! I had to do it!”

“That was the stupidest idea you could have, Dejun.” She adds, crossing her arms across her chest. “You’ve now downgraded to the Dumber position in the trio.”

Or, the methods weren’t just the best…but at least, she can say one thing.

Wong Kunhang is still the best kisser she has gotten the chance to try.

#hendery scenarios #hendery #wayv scenarios #nct scenarios #nct #wayv #writing #wayv fluff #wayv angst #wayv au #nct fluff #nct angst #nct au #college!au #i don't know what else to add fdanjfndaj but i like this!

[johaerys-writes]

Fic Writer’s Round Up: 2020

I was tagged by wonderful friendos @in-arlathan, @noire-pandora, @faerieavalon, @pinkfadespirit, @tevivinter, and @serial-chillr! Thank you so much, it was so interesting to see what you've been up to this year <3 

2020 was a ride from start to finish and I considered not doing this at first because frankly, I wasn't particularly happy with my output this year, but I decided to give it a go and I was pleasantly surprised! This year has had a lot of ups and downs for me and there were plenty of times when I had a hard time putting words on the page, while others I couldn't stop. I've written primarily for Dragon Age and The Song of Achilles, and a little bit of Castlevania. In the below breakdown I've included all the fics I’ve written solo, both my published stuff as well as those that I plan on publishing in the near future  (for my lengthier works, I’ve only included the chapters written in 2020):

Aran belongs to @oftachancer!

I don't know if you noticed the ~50k words of deleted stuff, but that was an entire arc that I wrote for A World With You, but decided it wasn't good enough so I scrapped and rewrote it. Those long gaps between updates this year? Yeah. That was it. I normally don't include deleted scenes in my overall wordcount but I decided to add this out of spite because it was a lot of hard work and it may or may not have had me sobbing into my coffee once or twice. Anyway. MOVING ON.

I also co-wrote A LOT with my friendo @oftachancer this year! It all started with a Modern AU one-shot of Aran and Tristan as college roommates, which then derailed into an epic adventure of about 250,000 words (placeholder title: Never Let Me Go) as well as a prequel of about 180,000 words of the boys before they went to college, which is currently being published on AO3 (Playground Love). We also published a smutty one-shot for Kinktober (Tea and Corsets). I love those boys so much, and I’m excited to write more of them. I have also co-written a few scenes for the Band!AU @oftachancer and @midnightprelude have been working on, which has been so much fun and I look forward to writing more! So, total wordcount for co-written stuff is approximately 445,000 words,  not including a couple one-shots that we’ve written and posted on Tumblr and I’m too lazy to track down now, or others that haven’t been published yet but will soon!

New Things I Tried This Year: 

Co-writing two massive, novel length fics was definitely a first, I had a lot of fun world-building with @oftachancer​, and it gave me the opportunity to develop some of my OCs that had been lurking in my mind for a really long time. I also started writing for a new fandom, TSOA, and that has definitely been a highlight in my year. I grew up reading the Iliad and ancient greek myths, and to see them brought to life was very rewarding. It has also been a lot of fun finding ways to integrate ancient greek lore in my works, I really love it!

Fic I spent the most time on: A World With You, although Playground Love and Never Let Me Go are close seconds!   

Fic I spent the least time on: To Build A Home. I wrote it in only a couple sittings after finishing Season 3 of Castlevania because I had so many feels! Chapters 1 and 2 of High-Flying Birds were also written on my phone in less than an hour, because again I was overwhelmed with feels after finishing The Song of Achilles.  

Favourite things I wrote: I am really proud of everything I’ve written this year, especially since it was such a stressful year and writing gave me a much needed escape! But I'm going to choose a few highlights, purely based on the satisfaction they gave me while writing, and how often I've gone back to reread them (does anyone else do that?? Lol): Viper in Tall Grass, because I enjoyed the heck out of writing in the Witcher Universe. Chapter 2: Thorn, from High Flying Birds, which was one of those scenes that practically wrote themselves and I still like the way it turned out. Lastly, Chapter 28: The Prodigal Son and Chapter 29: In Water Waist Deep from AWWY. They were both really challenging to write but in the end they were worth it and I personally feel it’s some of my best writing yet. I always get emotional when I go back to reread them.  

Favourite Things I Read: I’ve read a lot of published fiction this year, but not near as much fanfiction as I would have liked! I mentioned some of the fics I’m currently reading and loving in this post, but I’m going to make a more detailed fic rec post soon, so keep an eye out for that! 

Writing Goals for next year: My primary goals for 2021 are to finish AWWY and High-Flying Birds so I can start working on some projects I’ve been wanting to post forever, but apart from that, I have no goals other than to have fun writing, and perhaps participate in more fic exchanges and challenges! 

This post is terribly long (I’m usually rather quiet unless someone asks me to talk about my fics, and then I can’t shut up lol), but I want to thank every single person that has liked, reblogged and commented on my work, you guys are the best and there’s nothing like a comment or a thoughtful tag to make me want to create more! 

I also want to give a special shoutout to @solas-disapproves, @in-arlathan, @midnightprelude, @tessa1972 and @oftachancer​ for being the lovely, inspiring people that they are, and for gifting me with wonderful fanart or fanfic this year that made me want to melt in a puddle, as well as to @tenmeooo-thefangirltrash​ for translating High Flying Birds to Vietnamese! (Check it out here) Thank you all so much, your friendship and support has meant the world to me ;w;

I’m sure that everyone has done this already, but I’m still going to tag @pikapeppa, @schoute​, @schattengerissen, @zuendwinkel​, @elveny​, @fandomn00blr​, @dafan7711​, @dalish-rogue​, @jeannedarcprice​, @nug-juggler​, @kittimau​ and @lavellanvibes​ for art or writing, because I always love seeing what you’ve been up to! If you’ve made it to the end of this humongous post, please consider yourself tagged, and tag me back so I can see your work too!

CHEERS, AND ON TO 2021!! <3

#fic roundup #dragon age #dorian pavus x trevelyan #pavelyan #the song of achilles #patrochilles #tsoa #castlevania #trevor x sypha #dragon age fanfiction #johaerys writes