#might fuck around and try to become a paralegal

[kyun-toast]

[ATEEZ] Mafia!Hongjoong - Fateful

word count: 2.2k warnings: explicit language, gun use, death, mentions of alcohol summary: a feisty baby for a feisty scorpio a/n: I started writing this so loyal to mafia!ateez but now that I’ve watched kingdom, I’ve changed my mind - I wanna be a pirate hoe.

“You forgot your toothbrush.” You said, sat by the desk, arms crossed. “Good thing I didn’t finish unpacking right, you can take your shit just the way it came in the boxes, hmm?” You didn’t get angry very often due to the pure fact that your expectations for your boyfriend were so low at this point. The way that your words, let alone your face, held no emotion terrified the boy. He shuffled around your apartment, gathering his things with eyes to the ground in guilt.

“Can you hurry up? I have places to be.” You said, fingers massaging your temple.

Stopping in his tracks, the boy turned to you with pleading eyes for the nth time today, “Baby, I’m so sorry, please, I didn’t mean to hurt you like tha-”

“I’m sorry, what? You disrespected me, not hurt me, there’s a difference-”

“Why are you doing this to me? You know I love you.” He pleaded.

“Is that a serious question right now? You cheated with my assistant in your first week as intern at my firm, then tried and miserably failed to gaslight and manipulate me into believing your lies which I find pretty bold considering that I’m literally a lawyer. I respect the attempt though.”

“Baby, it was an acci-”

“No, shut up, I’m not done speaking. And you did this while I bought out this apartment for you because I felt bad for your sorry ass having to live with your dumb friends. I had to spoon feed you through law school and now through life too? You should be grateful that I’m letting you leave with all your things considering I bought them all too.”

He stood there with his hands gathered, staring back at the floor again.

“What. You got nothing to say? I thought so. You gonna leave now or what?” You questioned. He took his boxes, feet dragging across the floor to the door. You rolled your eyes as you closed the door on him. Before needing to look for a new intern and a new assistant, you needed a drink more than anything.

-

It was a regular Friday evening at the bar for Hongjoong and the boys. In celebration of Ateez’s successful expansion of their ‘business ventures’, Hongjoong had decided to spend the rest of the day at their usual spot. Despite having been set up for the sole purpose of laundering their dirty money, Bar 1117 was doing ironically well. Due to the nightlife business booming, Hongjoong had gained another alibi to keep him under the radar and he couldn’t be more comfortable with where his life was at.

“No, I reckon it’s Yeosang” San said, bringing the glass of whisky to his lips.

“I back that, he’s not got the emotional capacity for it.” Woo agreed, laughing.

“Yeah, just because I don’t take any of your shit doesn’t mean I’ll do the same to my wife. I bet Mingi. He’s definitely getting married last.” Yeo rebutted.

“What wh-”

Before Mingi could finish, Seonghwa cut through, “Considering our line of work, no one’s gonna be getting married any time soon. Right Joong?”

Turning to the leader of the boys, Seonghwa saw that Hongjoong had his head turned away from the conversation, eyes scanning up and down a figure at the bar. Hongjoong was never a man to be distracted by anything or anyone, always focused on his business so it was a rare occurrence for him to be looking so intently at a person. The boys catching onto this, they followed his gaze to a man sat so close to the lucky person’s face, his facial expressions showing his desperation for a way to break down their walls.

“This might be interesting…” Wooyoung smirked.

-

“I genuinely couldn’t care less.” You said, head cocked to the side in your hand, staring dead straight into the man’s eyes. However, the man had no intention of ever stopping his speech as he sat next to you at the bar.

“Come on, you really don’t know my father? He was in today’s paper?” He carried on as you zoned out of the conversation and occasionally cringed at the man’s stale breath, wondering how many more men were going to be responsible for the deepening wrinkles between your brows. As you took a sip from your drink, you locked eyes with a blonde-haired man across the room. His features were delicate yet sharp like the thorn of a rose, or a shard of glass, eyes twinkling with mischief. He raised his glass at you and smirked, amused by the situation that you were in.

“Listen here, bitch-” The man grabbed your wrist, forcing your attention back to him, “You’re gonna take the drinks I buy you, listen when I speak and sit pretty like a woman is supposed to.” He spat.

“Grrrr, scary.” You crudely imitated the growl in the man’s voice, still uninterested, “What a man your mother raised. I bet she’s proud, hmm?”

Anger radiating from the man’s body, he grabbed the glass out of your hand and threw it at the wall behind you, missing your face by inches.

“Oh, so now you’re going to scare me into sleeping with you? You need to brush up on some people skills.” You laughed, throwing you head back. You only composed yourself to grab the man’s collar, causing him to stumble off his stool. “You want to throw another glass at me? Try it.”

You hadn’t noticed the blonde-haired man stroll up to your table seeing that you were so caught up in the situation.

“Hi, I’m Hongjoong. How’s your night going? Anything I can help you with?” He asked, rubbing his hands together, surprisingly composed despite the mess. You let go of the man as the name triggered something in your head, remembering it being mentioned a few times behind closed-door meetings with your father.

“Are all the whores around here like this? I came here for some fun and this is how I’m treated? Fuck this place and every one of you here.” The man started at Hongjoong. You sat there, curling your fists ready to punch the man this time but Hongjoong noticed and interjected.

He placed his hands on the ledge of the table, leaning forward to obstruct the space between you and the man. As he did, you noticed the glimpse of a gun hanging from inside his fitted jacket, the slick shine of the metal winking at you in the light.

“I’d rather die than come to this shithole again.” The man carried on and you noticed the mischievous glint that was once in Hongjoong’s eyes finally fade to black.

“Oh, sure thing, I don’t think I want to see you here again anyway.” Hongjoong muttered and what happened in the next few seconds flew by so fast it barely registered in your brain.

The blonde-haired man reached into his jacket to pull the handgun out and shoot the man clean between the brows. At the same time, you pointed the small pistol you always kept concealed on your body at Hongjoong in reflex, having been taught to react to the sound of gunmetal in this way since you were a child.

Once you realised that the bullet wasn’t intended for you, you sensed seven pairs of eyes trained on you. Out of the corner of your vision, you saw that the boys once sat at Hongjoong’s table were all stood up, half of their guns out pointed to the man, and the other half at you, the next possible threat to their leader.

It was then that you realised that this man was the leader of Ateez, Seoul’s biggest underground organization responsible for the running of the city. It may have been politicians and businessmen in the spotlight, but behind the curtains, it was Ateez pulling at their puppet strings.

“Easy with that, angel.” Hongjoong turned to you smiling and raised a hand at the boys to lower their weapons. He continued chuckling, “I felt like you might have an attitude, but I didn’t expect this from you.”

As if it were a regular occurrence, two barmen came round to dispose of the body and your eyes followed, gun still pointing at the blonde man. Using the tip of his fingers, he gently lowered your gun to point at the floor.

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” he said, “I know some people that can sort that out.”

“Yeah those people are my paralegals paying off police in their missing persons hunts and forging their death certificates.”

Everything had fallen into place for you in that brief encounter. You knew that your father and his firm were involved in some dark business, but you never questioned it. Respecting your father’s wishes in telling you that keeping you in the dark was keeping you safe, you let it go.

However, it was only a few years ago that he had begun to tell you about his private dealings as consigliere to the organisation Ateez. That recently, his age-old friend had stepped down as mob boss and handed everything down to his son. Chuckling at how much he saw the image of his friend in the young blood, he mentioned that you would be in a similar position, that you too would be handed the law firm and become consigliere by tradition.

You had always expected to take up this mantle since you were young, as you figured that the men coming to your house for private meetings while you played in the garden did not treat you with unparalleled respect for no reason. You just didn’t realise that it would mean for you to be so heavily tied with the illicit world of the mafia then.

From then on, you trained close by your father’s side, learning the ins and outs of the world of jurisdiction, though you were never exposed directly to the ongoings with the mafia as your father had said, “the time will come when it needs to.”

“Then I guess today is the day.” You whispered to yourself smiling, you held your hand out to Hongjoong. “I’m Y/N L/N, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you, my father has always spoken very highly of you.”

Confused at first, a spark was ignited in Hongjoong as the shine returned to his eyes, and the amused smirk to his lips, your name triggering something in him. Realising that you were the daughter to one of the men he most respected in his life, he took your hand and brought it to his face to kiss gently, “And it’s a pleasure to meet you too, I’ve heard a great deal about you as well, but who knew my future right-hand man would be so hot.” He said as he flashed a sly smile.

The more he observed, the flames within Hongjoong only grew as he could sense the fire in you too. The most beautiful person he had ever set eyes on was to be his consigliere? Couldn’t be any more perfect. He wondered what more you could achieve together and pictured only pure wildfire.

“You better watch your mouth Mr. Kim, unless you want to start a war between the family before I even take up my position.”

“Of course, I have nothing but respect for you and your father. I was told that I wouldn’t be meeting you until he was to step down from his position, but I guess my lucky stars have aligned perfectly tonight.”

“Also, I’m more than capable of dealing with these things myself, there was no need for you to play knight in shining armour.”

“Sure, holed up in your guarded palace of a law firm, you’ve never had experience in the real world. Things are different here and what happened at this bar is just the cusp of it, princess.” He rebutted voice dripping honey, flirting his way through the conversation.

“But who is it advising your every action and saving your asses in the courtrooms, hmm?”

You and Hongjoong continued to jab at each other while the boys sat back in disbelief at the situation. Common people would have run the other way as soon as a gun was shot in their vicinity. So for you to have pulled one out in retaliation and furthering that, started arguing with their Captain, it was a sight to see.

“Bets on who’s going to win this one?” Yunho broke the silence.

“I’m betting tonight’s drinks on the lady.” Mingi said, throwing his black card onto the table.

“Me too, Hongjoong hyung looks too smitten for pride games right now.” Jongho agreed.

“Looks like we’ve got our first to tie the knot then.” San chuckled, nudging at Wooyoung who replied, “Hmmm, she doesn’t look like the typical housewife type though.” Analysing the unmatched confidence exuding from your body language.

Soon after, Hongjoong led you to the table of boys, pulling a chair out for you.

“Guys, this is Y/N L/N, future consigliere to Ateez, and not to mention, my future wife.” He smirked, eyes glowing.

“Carry on and I’ll be future Captain by regicide, Hongjoong,” you shot him a glare as you took your seat, “considering our fateful encounter, it looks like I’ll be seeing you more often with my father now, I hope we can get along.”

You poured yourself a glass of whisky and smiled while Hongjoong could already sense the eventful days ahead with none other than you by his side. -

Mafia AU Masterlist

#ateez #ateez imagines #ateez scenarios #ateez reactions #ateez angst #ateez fluff #ateez hongjoong #ateez seonghwa #ateez yunho #ateez yeosang #ateez san #ateez mingi #ateez wooyoung #ateez jongho #kim hongjoong #hongjoong oneshot #hongjoong scenarios #hongjoong fanfic #hongjoong imagines #hongjoong #mafia!ateez #ateez mafia au #mafia ateez #ateez mafia #ateez headcanons #Hongjoong au #ateez au #ateez fanfic #ateez x y/n #ateez x reader

[kaleidoscopeminds]

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

main works/series:

Ballet fic ‘verse (41.5k, Mature)

Luke's life is perfectly on track. He is about to get everything he's ever wanted, to become a Principal dancer for the Royal Ballet. He's focused, determined and nothing will get in his way. Then he meets Calum, a smooth-tongued barman with dangerous eyes, and suddenly not everything's so simple.

dream makes the sounds (that carry me so far away) (36.5k, Mature)

Luke's just got to California, on a trip to get away from his life for a while. Calum might be there for the same reason. When a chance meeting pushes them together, Luke might get more out of the four-week road trip than he ever imagined.

i’m not made by design, how can you be satisfied? (21k, Mature)

It gets to about three p.m. and Calum’s seen so many models at this point he thinks his vision is going a bit blurry; and that’s when the next boy “Luke Hemmings” gets let in. He’s stopped pretending to review the portfolios ahead of time on the iPad in front of him, just looking at the models as they come in and making a note whether it’s worth looking at it afterwards.

He kind of wishes he had looked at Luke's before he walked through the door though because he almost swallows his tongue.

A fashion AU

the flatmate arrangement (20k, Mature)

Hi Calum/Poor Struggling Paralegal, So I’ll be upfront with you. It’s a one-bed flat. I also live here. HOWEVER before you delete this and think I’m a freak, I work nights so I wouldn’t be here anytime you would be. You can have the flat exclusively from 6 pm to 8 am, Saturday night and all day Sunday. Understand this sounds like a bit of a crazy arrangement but I could do with the cash, let me know what you think?

Luke Hemmings (Poor Struggling Children’s Nurse)

A 'The Flatshare' AU

talk to me, baby (18k, Explicit)

“Is that why you’ve been looking at me all night?” Luke asks, reaching out and brushing a finger over one of the rips in Calum’s jersey. “Trying to get me alone to sell your services?”

Calum looks delighted that Luke has called him out and it makes Luke smile again.

“Not at all,” Calum says, taking a swig from his drink. “But I was trying to get you alone to offer some other services for free. Interested?”

Luke laughs. “Is that an innuendo?”

“Absolutely, but I can be less subtle.” Calum sips his beer, eyeing Luke. “Wanna fuck?”

meet me in the back under exit lights (17k, Mature)

“Mate, you do know what our job is right?” he asks amusedly. “You’re a writer at an indie music magazine. Just in case you hadn’t realised.” Calum rolls his eyes at Ashton.

“I know,” he says grumpily. “But if Alex makes me interview another one of these boring-as-fuck sad boy singer-songwriters I’m gonna lose my fucking mind.”

The journalist Calum/musician Luke AU no one asked for

Bakery Cake ‘verse (15k, Teen and Up)

“Bye, Luke,” Calum says. “Maybe see you tomorrow, and... Hope you have a great day too.” His face breaks out into a wider smile that reminds Luke of the feeling of getting just the right consistency for macaron batter, or a perfectly smooth finish on a cake, or the way good puff pastry flakes into the perfect fragments when you cut through a mille-feuille. Or something.

A bakery AU

and what if you’d never smiled at me (15k, Teen and Up)

Calum's really not happy about the new bakery that's just opened up down the road from his own bakery; it's gaudy and pastel and covered in flowers and is an offence to the name of baking. At least he's got a new regular to make him feel better about it all. One with a smile that can turn a day around just like that, even on a Tuesday.

in the places that we met (9k, Mature)

“I think I might be being haunted by a ghost,” is how he greets Michael at the pub that Friday.

“A ghost?” Michael responds suspiciously.

“Yeah and he’s personally haunting me and only me,” Luke says, pulling himself into a booth.

“Sounds frightening,” Michael says mildly.

“He’s also really fit,” Luke says, taking a sip of the pint Michael’s provided him with. “I saw him at the gym today.”

“Sounds sexy and frightening,” Michael says.

you wanna be closer (5k, Teen and Up)

Five times Luke and Calum touch platonically, and once when Calum realises maybe it was never platonic at all.

we're just friends (4k)

“I want to kiss you,” Calum says, voice not above a murmur. Luke’s heart stutters and a blush fills his face as it works overtime pushing his hot blood around his body.

“We shouldn’t,” Luke starts as his hand comes up to grip Calum’s wrist. “We’re friends, we’re just friends.”

drabbles and prompts:

i think i'm getting stuck, i think i'm getting hooked on you (2k, Teen and Up)

it's just a spark, but it's enough (2k, Teen and Up)

main works/series

in a world of black and white (12k, Teen and Up)

“Hey,” Luke says, as close to Ashton’s ear as he can get. Ashton’s head snaps up immediately and his hazel eyes behind his tortoiseshell glasses flick towards him, wide in surprise. Ashton’s eyes are a conundrum to Luke, sometimes gleaming warm amber with flecks of deeper mahogany, sometimes sparkling emerald and viridescent, and sometimes somewhere between the two, glinting and swirling with a golden green. Luke could spend weeks trying to solve the enigma of Ashton’s eyes, and thinks that he might be happy to.

if you dance with me darling, if you take me home... will we talk in the morning? (4k, Teen and Up)

Luke is drunk, but nicely so, he thinks, everything slightly softer around the edges, lights a little brighter and laughs a little louder. Everyone and everything in the world would be slightly better if they were this level of tipsy all the time, he muses to himself as he waits for his drinks, leaning his chin in his hand on the bar where he’s wedged himself between two other people that were definitely waiting before him, but don’t have Luke’s height or smile.

put on your dancing shoes, there’s one thing on your mind (2k, Teen and Up)

Luke squeaks and grabs Ashton’s wrist, bouncing on his toes as excitement flows through him, his heart rate picking up as he feels the crowd shift and pulse with anticipation, voices of enthusiasm and shouts beginning to ripple across the sea of people. The lights begin to flash and Luke can feel the energy thrum through the air.

sad luke ‘verse (2k)

Luke flexes his fingers around his glass and tips his head back to look at the ceiling, letting the lights flash around him, burning his eyes as he forces himself to keep them open, but he still feels like they’re not as bright as he wants them to be, not bright enough to sting as much as he yearns for them to.

Will someone tell me who I was before? (500, Teen and Up)

When I close my eyes and try to sleep I fall apart, I find it hard to breathe (500, Teen and Up)

Looking on, as all of life's colours seem to fade (1k, Teen and Up)

drabbles and prompts:

you light up my whole heart, it feels like the sun (1k, Teen and Up)

i don't wanna be wasting my time alone (2k, General Audiences)

pressed against the wall just watching your every move (1.5k, General Audiences

misc works and drabbles

fingertips on me, i can feel them still - malum (2k, Teen and Up))

The lady on the phone had offered him a new guy, and even though he was wary, he knew he couldn’t put off getting his hair cut any longer. That didn’t account for the new guy being the fucking prettiest man he’s ever set eyes upon, mask and all, and if Calum didn’t want to take his hat off before, he definitely doesn’t now.

some invisible string tying you to me - ot4 (1.5k)

That’s the thing about the four of them, they say they can’t really pinpoint exactly how it happened. How it became the four of them in every single iteration of the words, wrapped and tied together securely, looping in and out and around them all.

misc tumblr prompt ficlets

#masterlist #5sosfanfic #5sosfanfiction #i did one finally! #babes i've written so many words and for what #fic #fic talk #meg fic

[phmurderstories]

There’s a Killer Among Us

On July 10, 2001, a Filipino family of three was found murdered inside their residence in New South Wales, Australia. Initial reports suggest that the crime was racially motivated. However, investigators found out that a family member was behind in one of the most gruesome murders in Australia.

----

The Gonzales family consisted of Teddy, Mary, Sef, and Clodine.

On a typical afternoon, while Clodine was studying in her bedroom, she was attacked viciously and swiftly—hit at least six times across the head with a baseball bat, and was then strangled. Each blow left blood spatters across the walls and furnishings as well as dents from the bat in the wall.

As if that wasn’t enough, she was also stabbed five times in the neck and twice in the abdomen. Two knives were used by the killer—the longest and sharpest from the block in the kitchen.

This attacker really wanted her to die. And he didn’t stop there.

About an hour later, Mary arrived home from the office. She worked with her husband, Teddy, in his legal practice. The attacker, seemingly expecting her, struck her the moment she entered the house. Mary ended up with multiple stab wounds to her face, neck, chest, and abdomen. An aggressive slash to her windpipe was the final blow. She was left in a pool of her own blood.

The attacker was far from done.

Teddy arrived a few moments after Mary. Like her, Teddy was also swiftly struck by the attacker just after entering the house. Teddy was stabbed in the neck, chest, and abdomen as well. The wounds he suffered were much deeper and vicious; clearly, the strikes were more aggressive and powerful on him, that his spinal cord was partially severed.

Sef Gonzales was a student at Macquarie University and worked part-time as a paralegal at his father’s law firm. After being out with a friend, he came home to a blood-soaked scene wherein his family was murdered. He saw the words “Fuck off Asians KKK” spray-painted on the wall. Sef then called for help, saying that his family had been shot and that there was a lot of blood.

The authorities arrived, not knowing that they have been played by the one who would end up being known as “The Baby-faced Killer.”

The following were Sef’s statements regarding the murder of his family:

"As I walked in, I saw my father lying there. I went to him and I kneeled down and I think at that stage I was screaming for my mother for some reason. I was also screaming for my father, I was screaming, 'Papa!' I was holding him, I was trying to hug him, I was trying to wake him up. I ran to my mother, I was hugging her, and trying to wake her as well. My first instinct was to try and resuscitate her in some way.” Upon looking for his sister, “When I opened the door I hit something. I think it may have been part of my sister's body. I slowly pushed the door open, afraid if she was in a fragile position I might hurt her."

Sef’s statements didn’t fit the time and manner of his sister’s death. According to him, “There was blood gushing from her side. I tried to stop it by using my hands." Blood doesn’t gush if one has already been dead for quite some time. The authorities found only fine smears of blood on Sef’s clothing, not the soaking kind that is expected from the gushing of blood that Sef supposedly tried to stop.

A robbery gone wrong was what authorities thought had happened, but there was no sign of forced entry to the house and no signs of searching around the house. It was found that the family had died over a three-hour period; which suggests that it couldn’t have been a robbery since robbers rarely hang around at a crime scene for that long.

Sef suggested that a Philippine businessman may have been behind the murders, but there wasn’t any evidence to support that claim. Experience dictates that in domestic cases of murder, the prime suspects are usually those closest to the victims.

In the days after the murders, Sef appeared in the media, begging the killer or killers to come forward and pleading for the New South Wales (NSW) government to offer a reward. He gave the eulogy at the funeral then performed an a capella rendition of the Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men duet One Sweet Day, while standing over the coffins of his butchered family.

Sef’s alibi was that he was with his friend, Sam Deilio (who neither knew or was told anything about the murders) and went around the city. After dropping Sam off, Sef returned home. He called police to say he had discovered the bodies on his arrival at the house, and that he had chased off intruders. The authorities debunked his alibi after being told that Sef’s car was in the driveway at the time of the murders; in which, Sef concocted a second alibi, claiming he left his car at home, got in a taxi, then went to a brothel. This alibi was also debunked.

Sef was driven to murder his family due to the pressure of being unlikely to live up to his parent’s hopes of him becoming a doctor or lawyer. Sef attempted to cover up his academic failures by falsifying results, which his parents eventually found out about. His parents threatened to take his car and other privileges he enjoyed unless his academic performance improved.His initial plan was to poison his family. He had been researching poisonous seeds and plants online. He slipped those seeds in his mother’s food which led her to be admitted to the hospital due to food poisoning. She survived that one time.

On the day of the murders, the poisonous plants were found in a container in his room. His internet search history also solidified the fact that he did, in fact, had a motive to kill.

Days after the murders, Sef was found to have been visiting his father’s accountant to check on the investments. Months later, he was seen in a luxury car. He also moved into a luxury high-rise apartment. The police arrived at his apartment and arrested him for murder.

He was found guilty of the murder of his family and was sentenced to three concurrent life terms.

#Sef Gonzales #Baby faced killer #true crime #murder #killings

[wherevermyway]

be your confessional (1/?) // minbin // 18+

chapter one: cherry-flavoured nicotine series navigation: [desktop] [mobile]

⚠ POTENTIAL TW: READ WITH CAUTION! ⚠ pairing: lee minho x seo changbin rating: explicit! 18+ warnings/tags: obsessive compulsive disorder, cults, religious guilt, internalized homophobia, past sexual assault, cheating, smoking, tattoos.  word count: 4,032 also on AO3

originally posted: 27 december 2020

It's been ten years since Changbin left the cult he was born into. He's been desperately trying to become a normal member of society, but sometimes it proves to be difficult. He has a normal office job, a normal roommate, and a normal life. At least he was trying.

this fic sounds a lot darker than it is. most of the dark things happened in the past and is briefly discussed/observed.

disclaimer: this is a work of fiction! any reference to persons in this work of fiction are purely coincidental. the characters referenced from Stray Kids are  interpretations loosely based on their personalities in the group and do  not represent the real people behind the personas. if this, or any of  the content included in the warnings above make you uncomfortable,  please stop reading now.

“Would you stay still? The Mark is going to come out imperfect if you keep moving.”

The voice felt like nails on a chalkboard, making Changbin nauseated just hearing it. He couldn’t help but twitch as the tattoo machine etched black lines into his skin, black ink and blood blending as the tattooist wiped at his chest.

To most sixteen-year-olds, getting a tattoo so early was a sign of rebelliousness, something to be envied by others. To Changbin, however, this was not a tattoo he would wear with pride. The X, surrounded by four triangles and enclosed in a circle, was something he felt shameful over.

“The X means you are nothing. You must follow the four principles: morality, service, responsibility, and submission to be whole, much like the circle. That is The Mark.”

The words hurt more than the tattoo being carved into his sternum. Everyone in their fellowship was forced to get The Mark at sixteen, if born into it, or when they were deemed worthy after joining.

Changbin didn’t want this. He didn’t want to be marked with a brand that rendered him unworthy, as nothing more than a pawn to some bullshit deity that some power-hungry man came up with fifty years ago. He loved his parents, he truly did, but he never understood why they fell for the words that The Leader spat out every week. The Leader wasn’t even charismatic; perhaps his parents were just vulnerable and stupid.

It didn’t matter.

“Wear your Mark with pride, Son,” The Leader whispered in his ear, continuing to dig his nails into Changbin’s wrists. “You are one with The Universe, one with Us, one with Me. Together, we are one in responsibility.”

“One in morality,” the tattooist nodded.

“One in service,” his father continued.

There was a pause as Changbin tried to choke back tears. He knew he had to complete the oath, but the lump in his throat and the burning of the skin on his chest made it difficult. The Leader cleared his throat, digging his nails into Changbin’s skin further, until he cried out and shook his head. “One in submission!”

One in submission.

Fuck submission.

Changbin nearly fell off of his bed as he thrashed awake. He was unable to make sense of his surroundings, trying to calm his rapid breathing and focus his eyes on something, on anything. He hated this nightmare; it haunted him for years, and they were increasing in frequency again.

It was irrational, but he needed to make sure. Changbin kicked his sheets off of him, untangling his legs from the prison his sheets tried to trap him in. As he made his way to his feet, he tore off his shirt, haphazardly throwing it somewhere across his room.

He needed to make sure.

Moving towards the washroom was mechanical, automatic. He did this so many times, waking up in the middle of the night to run off and check his skin. It was 37 steps from his bed to the sink. 37 steps to security.

Step 35: collide with the door.

Step 36: turn the light on.

Step 37: stare at the tired reflection in the mirror.

A wave of relief washed over Changbin as he stared at the dark raven that sprawled across his chest, wings touching the tips of his shoulders and the open beak pointed up towards his left shoulder. It held a deep meaning to him, but it was more important that it completely covered up that stupid fucking mark.

It hid away the years of guilt and shame, the obsession and compulsion that came along with conforming to each intricate, demanding rule that the cult ordered. The years of pain would never be totally washed away, but it was getting easier with each passing day.

“Hey,” a tired voice from the doorway startled Changbin, causing an electric jolt to course through his body. He turned his head over his shoulder and stared, blinking a few times to make sure it was really his roommate, Jisung, standing there.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” he sleepily mumbled, nervously rubbing the tip of his shoulder with his thumb as he nibbled on his lip ring.

Jisung leaned up against the door, running his fingers through his vivid red hair. “You didn’t. I was already awake. Besides, it’s almost 5:30, so I figured I’d just get up and deal with the day.” They stared at each other for a moment, before Changbin turned back to look at his reflection in the mirror.

“You ever think it’s gonna stop, the nightmares?”

“Dunno,” the redhead shrugged as he met Changbin’s eyes in the mirror. “It’s been awhile since you woke up like this, though. You gonna be okay when it comes up?”

It hadn’t been long since he woke up like this, it had just been a while since Jisung woke up to Changbin acting on his compulsion. The black-haired man sighed, biting at his lip as he ran his eyes over his skin. “I’ll get over it. Hopefully he gets what he deserves.”

Jisung took a step forward, softly gripping Changbin’s shoulder and smiling at him in the mirror. “I know you will, but don’t be afraid to lean on me, dude. I’ll be here to help you through it, I promise.”

“Thanks, man,” Changbin smiled back, then looked down to his hands, staring at the hangnails and scabs that had littered his fingers. He wanted nothing more than to tear into his skin and tear away the imperfections that he had created during one of his episodes. The momentary lapses in rationality, where he would ferociously tear his nails apart, rip off hangnails, the lapses were the only thing that made the intrusive thoughts stop.

“You wanna hit the gym early? I know you’re not gonna go back to sleep any time soon, so might as well be productive with our time.”

“Yeah,” Changbin sighed, looking at himself in the mirror one more time before he turned the light off. “Might as well.”

Ten days until the hearing.

“Good morning!”

Fuck. Changbin tried to stealthily roll his eyes as he walked into the office. He hated the paralegal, Lee Minho. Minho was everything Changbin was not: nice, loveable, innocent, and a good church boy who was pure. Everyone loved Minho, because he was safe, an easy pill to swallow. Changbin was not an easy pill to swallow; he was covered in tattoos, ears decorated with jewellery, hard around the edges, and abrasive to most people.

“Yeah,” Changbin grunted, trying to avoid saying much else as he made his way to his office. It was too early to deal with someone so chipper, not without copious amounts of caffeine.

“Wait!” Minho called after him, and Changbin didn’t bother to hide his disgust as he stopped. He heard the shuffling of papers, and then Minho was suddenly by his side. “Mr. Bang is away from the office today, and he told me to pass off some of the Dawson v. Doebring case off to you.”

“Walk and talk, then,” Changbin didn’t bother waiting for Minho to follow him. “If Chan’s out, that means we’re busy today.” There was an itch under his skin as he lost count of the steps from the front door to his office, and it made him tense.

There was a bit of a squeak that came from Minho as he followed Changbin to his office. “I’ve got your back, Mr. Seo.”

Changbin couldn’t hold back a groan as he stopped dead in his tracks. He hated when people addressed him by his last name. “Stop calling me that,” he took a step closer, getting into Minho’s face. “I keep telling you, only address me as Changbin.”

“But,” Minho started, nervously backtracking his words incoherently.

He looked at Minho with a pleading gaze, trying to not seem vulnerable. Part of him wanted to tear into Minho because they did this every week, but the pitiful look that Minho had painted on his face made Changbin feel like a horrible person. It felt like he was yelling at a child for something stupid and only out of frustration. “Please, just… don’t call me by my last name.”

Minho nodded his head and bit his lip.

“Thank you,” Changbin sighed, turning on his heel and beelining towards his office.

“Sorry, Changbin,” Minho said, curling into himself a bit as he trailed Changbin.

The younger man shrugged as he sat down at his desk. “Don’t worry about it, Minho. Just…” he let his voice trail off as he looked down at his stacks of paperwork. There was a lot to do before he was going to be absent for several days due to the hearing.

“Don’t pretend like you didn’t hear me. The leader deserves to die a slow, and painful death. Fuck this goddamned cult!”

That had earned Changbin a slap across the face from his father.

“Blasphemy is a sin, Changbin.” Despite being furious, his father’s voice was exhausted. He tiredly grabbed a black book off of the table and passed it to the young man. “You should be grateful that The Leader accepted you back into his embrace after the stunt you pulled.”

Changbin shook his head, grabbing the book his father offered and tossed it across the room, colliding against the vase on the dining table. “He should be fucking grateful I didn’t take this to the cops.”

Another slap to the face.

The younger man licked his teeth and shot an icy glare towards his father. “You know this isn’t right. You’re really going to side with that fucking monster over your own son?”

There was a painful silence that lingered in the air as they stared down one another, until his father broke the tension. He didn’t look like he wanted to say the words he had been thinking, but he repeated them anyways, his voice empty and distant.

“One in responsibility, one in morality, one in service, one in submission.”

Changbin didn’t bother. He scoffed as he took a step back, shaking his head in disbelief. “You’re as much of a monster as him, you know?” His mother sat on the couch, curled up into herself as she stared off in a dissociative trance, trying to remove herself from the situation. “You’re going to actively defend and dismiss the things your beloved leader has done to me? Did you forget that I’m your fucking son?”

There should have been a slap, but Changbin’s father just looked down. His expression was hard to read. There was a look of shame and a look of remorse, but his eyes were dead.

“Get out of my house.”

Changbin’s mother lifted her head, opening her mouth to say something, but nothing came to fruition.

“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Changbin shook his head. “I’m not living with someone that doesn’t stand up against their son being abused and assaulted for years by some fucking psychopath that thinks he’s a god.”

“Come back here!” His father demanded, but Changbin was having none of it.

He turned on his heel and tried to remain composed as tears rolled down his face. “You’re both dead to me. I hope that, when this whole fucking cult gets torn apart, you both come down with it all.”

It had been ten years since he had seen his parents last, and he would be seeing them again in ten days.

“You’re making your fingers bleed,” Minho’s voice pulled Changbin back from the depths of his memories. “Are you okay, Changbin?”

No, I’m not okay. Never have been.

“It’s fine,” he grumbled, grabbing a tissue from the box on his desk. “Sometimes happens when I think too hard.” Ten days. He was still partially lost in the abyss of the past, and he was afraid he’d never fully shake the vise grip that the cult had around him.

Minho frowned, setting his notepad and pen down on the desk in front of him. “Can I ask you something kinda personal?”

No. I don’t want you to know anything about me.

“What is it?” He blotted the tissue around his fingernails until the blood was mostly gone, then dropped the tissue in the bin.

The older man brushed his brown hair away from his eyes, and sat forward. “Is law school really worth it? How did you know it was right for you? Like, I see you and Mr. Bang spend months over these cases and part of me is interested in applying, but...”

Fix the imperfections.

Changbin stood up, trying to fight the urge to pick at his fingers. “Can this wait a minute? I need to go wash my hands off.”

Minho nodded his head once. “Sure, sure. I’ll finish making notes on this file.”

127 steps from his desk to the washroom. He counted every step mentally as he walked. Anything to keep his thoughts away from tearing the flesh next to his fingernails off in nervousness, not until he was alone.

Step 126: open the door.

Step 127: scan the room.

It was an additional three steps to the third sink. Three was a good number.

Changbin ran the water a bit too cold for comfort as he stuck his hands under the faucet, ravenously tearing at his hangnails, pulling them off and turning the porcelain of the sink a shade of pink for a split second. The blood would drip down, then rapidly desaturate and dissolve into the water.

Fix the imperfections.

He hated these thoughts. Sure, the medications he had been on helped, and the therapy appointments he sometimes went to had helped him with better coping mechanisms, but this was the only thing that made sense to him, that actually felt like there was a payoff of serotonin. Changbin didn’t tear into his skin because he liked it — it hurt, actually, and it was incredibly uncomfortable — but because his brain told him he had no other choice.

“Obsessive-compulsive disorder isn’t uncommon in cases like yours,” his therapist told him. “Children develop coping mechanisms like skin picking or excessive handwashing amongst other things to gain control in their lives when things don’t make sense and they don’t have a way to express that in a healthy manner. Anxiety disorders are common: obsessive-compulsive disorder, alcohol and/or drug use and abuse, eating disorders…”

“Fuck that goddamned cult,” Changbin whispered under his breath, his voice laden with venom. “Fuck that man, fuck my parents. Fuck all of them.”

He let the water wash over his hands until his hands started to shake from the cold. Anything to numb the pain.

“You look pale,” Minho had, again, given Changbin an unwanted statement, and the younger man gritted his teeth as he bit his tongue.

Fuck you, too, you prudish brat.

“How’s the case review?” He deliberately ignored the concern Minho had as he sat at his desk, clasping his hands together and resting his chin against his fingers.

Minho batted his eyelashes a few times, giving Changbin a look of worry. “The case review is fine, but I don’t know if we’re going to have this ready by the end of the week.”

“Guess we’ll have to work harder.”

The men sat in silence for hours, poring over their evidence for the case. When Changbin could fully immerse himself in a case like this, it dampened the intrusive thoughts in his head. He felt somewhat normal for a little while, and it was a welcomed change.

“It’s half past two, Changbin,” Minho whined, looking up from his paperwork. “Can we take a break for now?”

It took a moment for Changbin to pull himself away from the paragraph he was on, taking a highlighter to some of the words. “I assume you want to get something for lunch, right?” He didn’t bother looking away from the document, because he didn’t want to look at Minho’s sad eyes.

“That’d be nice, yeah.”

“Then go,” Changbin shrugged.

“You should eat something, too.” Minho leaned in on the desk, trying to get into Changbin’s line of sight. “Maybe take a break from all of this.”

“Fine,” Changbin sighed, grabbing his glasses off of his desk and adjusting them on his face. “Chan said I should be nicer to you, anyways. How about that French place down the street?”

Minho’s smile was soft, genuine. “That sounds perfect.”

Changbin hated the fact that Minho was so nice. It felt fake and unwarranted. He saw a lot of his younger self in the way that Minho acted: fake kindness, putting others before himself, a general sense of being lost. He knew that the other man was deeply wrapped up in some sort of religion that took up all of his time outside of work.

It wasn’t obvious until Changbin watched the way he talked about his fiancée. It felt like she was a prop or a chore: just another thing for Minho to deal with.

“Hey, congrats, man!” Seungmin, the other new paralegal, had excitedly shouted one day a few weeks prior. “Finally settling down like a real adult, huh?”

Changbin poked his head out of his office door, ready to scold the paralegals for being so loud, but the look on Minho’s face distracted him. For someone being congratulated, he looked incredibly uncomfortable.

“Yeah,” he had meekly said, sinking into his shoulders a bit as he darted his eyes around. “She’s great. My parents have been pushing me to bite the bullet for months now, and this weekend seemed like it felt right.”

Doesn’t look like it feels right.

Changbin stood in his doorway, observing the two of them chatter back and forth, watching the discomfort on Minho’s face every time Seungmin asked him questions about his fiancée. It was like he was trying to talk with a wedge of lemon in his mouth: constantly scowling and wincing.

“We’re gonna get married in a few months,” Minho said with a sigh. “Her parents want a winter wedding, and my parents just want me to get married.”

Seungmin shifted his weight to the other foot. “Dude,” he folded his arms, his tone turning more serious. “You sure about this?”

Minho shrugged. “Yeah. It’s what I’ve gotta do. Nobody else in my community waits this long to get married and start a family.”

Community.

Changbin tried to stifle a scoff with a fake cough when the two men noticed him standing there. “Sorry, I wanted to offer congratulations. I was also looking for the corporate notes for the Smith v. ParaCorp case, Minho.”

“Oh,” Minho nodded, his face flushing as he scrambled around his desk. “Yeah, I’ve got them somewhere, sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” Changbin shook his head and turned to walk back to his office. “Just have them on my desk in a couple of hours.”

As much as Minho annoyed him, Changbin felt somewhat bad for him. He didn’t know the specifics of what all Minho was involved in, but it sounded deep-rooted and like he was stuck. Chan told him to try and be nicer to his paralegal, but sometimes annoyance won out over niceness, but he was at least trying.

Somewhat.

“So,” Changbin dug into his jacket and pulled out his vape cartridge as soon as he and Minho were outside, “how’s the wedding prep going?” He eyed Minho out of the corner of his eye as he inhaled, the cherry-flavoured nicotine cloud leaving his lips a moment later.

It was a rude question to ask, given the circumstances, but he wanted to try and confirm a theory that was burning in the back of his head, under the guise of caring about Minho’s personal life.

A theory that was slowly unravelling to be truth. Minho shrunk a bit, kicking a stray rock down the sidewalk as they walked. “It’s,” he paused, tucking his hands into his pockets, “I guess it’s going? Maria and her family are working on most of it.”

Go figure.

“You don’t seem very excited for a man that’s about to get married.”

They walked in silence for a bit. 40 steps from the entrance to the curb. The stoplight ahead of them was red, and cars rushed past them as the air lingering between them went stagnant.

“I’m not excited about it.” Minho’s voice was quiet, almost too quiet for Changbin to pick up on. “Not at all, actually.”

The younger man took another pull from his vape, then rolled his tongue over the stud in his lip. He should have pretended like he didn’t hear Minho, but curiosity always got the better of him. “Wanna talk about it? Sworn to client confidentiality.”

Minho scoffed, anxiously tapping the toe of his shoe against the ground. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t love her, do you?” The light turned green, the orange hand turning into a white stick figure, but neither of them moved.

The older man looked up, his eyes glistening a bit as they stared forward. Some stranger walked past them and flipped them off, but neither of them paid the stranger any mind. “Are you actually supposed to love someone you marry, or is that some sort of fairytale? All of my friends are married and secretly miserable.”

“Dunno,” Changbin sighed, sticking his hands into his pocket as he stared at the light turn into a flashing hand. “Never been married. Never planned on it.”

“Why are you asking me this, anyways?” Minho turned to look at Changbin, a disgruntled look on his face.

“Why did you answer me?” Changbin tilted his head a bit to the side, looking at Minho with indifference. “I figured you wouldn’t say anything if you didn’t really want to talk about it. To answer your question, though, it’s been bothering me since you announced your engagement. You looked uncomfortable when Seungmin brought it up.”

Minho didn’t answer Changbin, instead taking a hasty step forward as soon as the light flashed back to a white stick figure.

“Wait, Minho!” Changbin reached out, practically ripping Minho’s sleeve off of him as he pulled him back from the road right as a car ran a red light, nearly running into Minho. The force of the pull knocked them onto the sidewalk, causing Changbin to land hard against the ground, barely missing his head colliding into the concrete.

Minho awkwardly laid on top of Changbin, staring down at him with terrified eyes. He grabbed the sides of Changbin’s neck and panicked. “Oh my goodness,” he whined, “Changbin, are you okay?”

He’s cute from this angle. Fear looks good on him.

“I’ll be fine,” Changbin says, unsure of where to place his hands. He’d never been this close to another man his age. It never hit him before, but Minho was good looking. Had he not been the pure, innocent church boy type, he would have been Changbin’s type. Minho, however, was innocent and literally planning a wedding that was coming up in a few months.

“Changbin,” Minho whispered, his cheeks turning a shade of crimson. There was a strange tension between them, like the air around them was full of electricity and they were being pulled together. Minho dug his fingernails into Changbin’s neck, slowly bringing his head in closer.

Don’t kiss the church boy.

He knew where his hands needed to be. Changbin brought his hands up to Minho’s head without even thinking twice, pushing aside the intrusive thoughts running through his head. The warmth of the older man was intoxicating as he brought their lips together.

Minho responded in kind, pushing a bit further into the kiss. They were getting strange stares, but it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered but the euphoric energy that danced around them as they kissed. He pulled away, then pressed his lips to the older man’s three times in total.

Stop kissing the engaged church boy.

Maybe he would make it six times.

Don’t kiss the engaged church boy who is probably heavily traumatized.

Nine times. Three times three for good measure.

Changbin had just literally fallen for the church boy, but he felt like he was potentially metaphorically falling for him now. Fuck the intrusive thoughts.

#be your confessional #skz fics #minbin #lee minho x seo changbin #seo changbin x lee minho #minho x changbin #changbin x minho #wherevermyway

[jimlingss]

Jungle Park [23]

Chapter 22 - Chapter 23 - Chapter 24 [Finale]

➜ Words: 4.4k

➜ Genres: Fluff, Light Humour (?), Slice of Life, Workplace Romance!AU

➜ Summary: The equation is simple. Hoseok needs to hire someone. You need a job. Except like any actual equation, it’s not fucking simple at all! Not when you have to add the fact that he was forced to hire someone he doesn’t want in his office, he has little respect for your job in general, and oh yeah...once upon a time you might have—*CENSORED*.

➜ NOTES: This chapter consists of short stories on other characters in the series.

The winds are chilly, intertwining through the strands of her hair, nipping at her reddened nose. The tight toque on her head saves her scalp from drying up and causing her hairs that are increasingly becoming gray to fall out. It’s freezing and her hands dig into her coat pocket, cheeks seeking any inch of warmth as she pushes her face down into her jacket.   The mist of the water that whips into the air as the waves crash against the shore doesn’t help the situation. The old lawyer has no idea why she’s spending a precious weekend on the pier.   She works hard during the week and only dreams about staying in her cozy home, wrapped up in blankets with nothing to do. But here she is….fishing with her husband.   “Do you want some hot chocolate?”   “No,” she mutters, watching the pole that’s set in front of her, but it stays motionless as his does.   It’s been an hour of sitting here. At first it was nice to watch the sun rise, but now the lovely tangerine shades of the sky have faded off and the sunlight hasn’t been beating down on the ground long enough to warm the air. It’s miserable. Gray. And no one was here.   “It’ll make you feel better.”   “It’s going to make my stomach upset.”   “Hot chocolate?” The older man chuckles and pours out the dark liquid into the lid of the thermostat anyhow. His arm extends out and he pokes her arm. “Here, take it. Drink. It won’t make your stomach upset, trust me. It’ll make you warmer.”   Naul accepts the lid reluctantly with a sigh. Her fingers curl around the metal, feeling the warmth and she takes a tentative sip. The heat pools down to stomach, indeed making her feel better. “Did you make this using the powder in the top cabinet above the stove?”   “How’d you know?” Her husband glances at her with an impressed smile.   Yet, she is not amused. “You know that’s expired, right?”   “Ah, doesn’t matter.” He bats the air with his hand. “The expiration date is only the recommended date.”   “It’s been expired for ten years.”   “Still tastes good.”   She puts the lid down, returning her hands to her pockets. “Did he call?”   “Yeah, he called.” He sits back in the camping chair, enjoying the blue horizon. “He’s too busy to come over this weekend. Looks like it’ll just be us two.”   “Did you scold him? He’s been skipping out on these family dinners for weeks now.”   “Ah, let him be. He’s still settling down in his new apartment.”   “He’s been irresponsible and he’s forgotten about his own parents.”   “Oh, c’mon. The bird has to leave the nest eventually, and it’s not like we’ve been abandoned.” He turns to her fully with a bright smile. “You’re not lonely, are you? You’ve got me.”   Naul deadpans, “Great.”   “Psh. You love me.”   “That’s what I remind myself.”   The older man grins. He leans over, invading in her personal space. “If you didn’t love me, you wouldn’t be here right now fishing with me.”   “Yeah.” A wistful sigh leaves her as she daydreams of a better time. “I’d probably be bundled up in blankets sleeping and when I wake up, I’d go to the kitchen and eat a real meal.”   “We’ll eat later.” His arm wraps around her, jackets rustling against each other. “You can hide it all you want, but I know you like fishing and spending time with me.”   “You think I like sitting out here in the cold at seven in the morning?”   “Yes…?”   The female lawyer flashes him an indignant expression as a response, in disbelief that he can be so blindly hopeful. And he sulks, countering, “it’s a relaxing hobby and it’s beneficial to your health!”   “I think it’s raising my high blood pressure.”   Her husband laughs and a tiny smile lifts on her face. They both look off and her rod twitches. Immediately, Naul lifts her hand to silence him, signaling him to be quiet. “It’s moving…” She grabs the rod and the line tugs. “I got it!”   “Reel it in, reel it in!”   “I’m trying!”   She’s reeling as fast as she can and the line curves, the top of the pole beginning to pull. It isn’t seaweed and the hook hasn’t gotten stuck at the bottom like it often does for him. There’s something on the end that’s fighting. “Oh my god, it’s going to be a big one!”   His shrieking does nothing to help and Naul spares a quick glance at him. “Honey, help!”   “O-oh!” His hands grasp the pole and they both pull together as she reels. Eventually, it comes up and there’s a huge fish at the end flopping around, some kind of trout she’s not sure of.   The lawyer grins and he cheers, both hugging each other. They’re the noisiest on the pier, interrupting the peace and okay...Naul admits it...she kind of enjoys fishing. Only kind of.

The bell chimes as the door opens. It jingles, signaling new customers, but instead of the newcomers heading to the counter, they head straight for the booth tucked away in the corner. The woman fiddling with her phone lifts her head as figures approach her peripheral vision. And she gasps.   “Oh my god!” The squeals pierce through the area, causing patronages to wince and turn to stare. Lisa can’t help herself, barely keeping her feet from thumping. “It’s been so long!”   Sebin’s eyes are wide and she bolts up to stand, smiling wide and hugging her. She motions to Inyoung who lingers, a bit overwhelmed. “Get over here! Oh god, I missed you so much!”   “How are you?” Inyoung barely catches her breath and they all sit down.   “I’m good, I’m good. Never been better actually. You?”   “We’re good,” Lisa replies, still grinning. Once settled down, they order their drinks from the barista and huddle together, tucked in the corner of the café to catch up.   “I’ve been going to school in the evenings and I got a job as a teacher’s assistant during the day. Sometimes it’s really hard, but I love the kids and it’s a lot of fun. It feels really fulfilling.”   The former paralegal continues to talk about the kids and the school she’s at, as well as a handsome grade four teacher that she’s been especially eyeing these days. Her discussion trails off into her activities and duties, the decent pay and her classes, as well as how she’s on the track to obtain a degree to teach. Once she’s ended her tangent, she leans back and takes a break, handing the baton off to the other two. “How’s the office?”   “The usual,” Lisa answers.   “Less messy,” Inyoung adds on, “and Hoseok’s a lot nicer. The atmosphere is friendlier than before.”   Sebin nods her head, making a sound of acknowledgment at the back of her throat. “Because of Y/N?”   “You guessed it,” Lisa laughs before taking a sip of her drink.   “She’s doing well?”   “Yeah, I think so.”   “She was down in the dumps for a while, but she seems pretty happy lately.” Inyoung plays with her straw and as the gears in her brain turn, and she hums, “Same with Hoseok.”   The former paralegal seems intrigued by this small detail and she quirks her head in curiosity. “Are they dating?”   “God, no.” Lisa shakes her head. “That’s impossible.”   “Is it?” The girl sitting across from her questions it while taking a sip, smacking her lips afterwards to savour the lingering taste of her coffee. “I always thought they were a good match. Balances each other out.”   “Huh. I guess they’re close these days. I just never really thought about it before.”   “Yeah, I can kind of see it.” Inyoung nods of her head, having never pictured you and Hoseok together until this very moment.   “Anyways, tell her I send her my gratitude again. I don’t think I’ve shown her enough appreciation. If I hadn’t sat down with her months ago, god knows I’d still be working there.” Sebin sheepishly smiles, more happy than she’s ever been. “I should really visit some time soon.”   Both Lisa and Inyoung insists that she should and eventually, the conversation deviates from work and from the subject of you and Hoseok. The girls catch up on all sorts of topics together until the sun has gone down, as if no time has passed whatsoever.

The law firm is bustling with the sound of work. But it stops momentarily as he brushes past. Employees turn their heads, greeting him and he nods in acknowledgment before heading straight towards his office. His personal receptionist opens both doors for him and he thanks her before she shuts it again. He drops down into his swivel chair with a slight sigh, staring out the large glass windows towards the buildings in the city.   The phone interrupts his train of thought.   “Mr. Wang, Jung Hoseok is on line five.”   The corner of Jackson’s mouth tilts. “Put him through.”   There’s a beep and then a firm voice. “Wang.”   “Jung. To what do I owe the pleasure to?”   “You still haven’t responded to my correspondence yet. Please reply forthwith.”   Jackson’s smirk grows and he leans back in his chair, playing with the hem of his black blazer, speaking loudly towards his phone on speaker. “Further to your communications, I can advise you that we’re in no agreement to your position.”   There’s a beat of silence before Hoseok counters, “Thank you for your earlier communications. Considering the tone of your voice, my office will be contacting the justice directly.”   The senior lawyer scoffs. “Are you trying to bypass me?”   “You’re obviously being uncooperative and unresponsive.”   “And you want to go over my head?”   “I have no other choice.”   “You are absolutely insufferable.”   “Say that to me when we’re in court and let’s see what happens.”   Jackson sits straighter, all too entertained by this conversation. “Is this a threat?”   “It’s a promise,” Hoseok clarifies with a venomous tone.   “Fine.” The lawyer seated in his luxurious office waves the white flag. “I’ll get someone to respond to your damn email by the end of the day.”   The sly grin is practically heard in his voice. “Thank you.”   “Just don’t come to my office like last time,” Jackson chides. “I don’t want your presence here.”   “Don’t worry, I don’t have that much time on my hands.” There’s another unusual pause, Hoseok hitching his breath and Jackson frowns before the other man continues, “But are you worried I’ll poach someone from BTS? Trust me, I wouldn’t want any of your sub-par lawyers working at Jung and Park.”   “Sub-par lawyers that win every time?”   “Sub-par lawyers that are sore losers and won’t admit when they’re wrong.”   Jackson scoffs, leaning his head back and spinning slightly in his chair. As hostile as the bantering could get, it was a pleasant change and dearly missed. He even admits it to his long time rival, “I missed this, Jung. We should go out for a drink some time.”   “So you can incapacitate me and frame me for a crime?”   He laughs. “Aren’t you a ball of sunshine.”   “I’ll take you on that offer when I win this case.”   “Okay, deal. But looks like we won’t be going out then.”   “Fine by me.” There’s yet one more pause from the other end of the line and as Jackson listens, he hears rustling, another voice followed by the sound of soft giggling. His face blanches immediately, blood running cold.   “Jung, what are you doing? Are you with someone?”   “Don’t you wish you knew,” Hoseok replies in a snarky tone, absolutely shameless. “I’m going now, Jackson. I have other...issues to tend to.”   “You’re sick, Jung! Don’t call me to help with your foreplay! Where do you even get off?!”   Unfortunately for the prestigious lawyer, Jung Hoseok hangs up without answering and he’s not even sure the other man heard. The phone goes into a dial tone until he pushes his own button and he sighs with a slight smile before returning to work. His large law firm doesn’t run by itself after all.

Shopping has never been his forte. He didn’t think he’d be here or that this is what hanging out meant. It made him uncomfortable, store clerks standing around in the empty space to stare, running to ask if he needs help whenever he might even glance in their direction a second too long.   Another attendant is rolling over another rack of clothes and Jungkook curls in himself on the small couch, finding it all too intimidating. In the meanwhile, Taehyung is staring in the mirror, scanning himself up and down as if he’s about to makeout with himself. The yellow pajamas clinging onto his body is blinding in the store’s incandescent lights.   “What do you think, Kook?”   “Uh. It’s nice.”   Taehyung hums and continues searching through the rack, fingers playing at the hangers like they’re a piano. After deliberately choosing through them, he takes out a pair. “You should try these blue pajamas. They’re silk.”   “I’m good.”   “C’mon, Kook.” Taehyung puts it back on the rack, signaling to the attendant who nods and wheels away the rack of clothes. Apparently he’s a regular here, coming frequently enough for his signals to be understood. Jungkook muses that Taehyung is acting less like a successful lawyer and more like a son of a rich mogul who has a trust fund.   He approaches him before sitting on the couch. “I thought shopping would make you feel better.”   “Shopping isn’t really my thing,” the younger admits.   “You wanna play games then? I know an arcade around here.”   “Uh, I’m okay.” Jungkook smiles at his mentor, not wanting to get in the way. “You don’t have to worry about me.”   “Are you sure?” Taehyung tilts his head, searching Jungkook’s features carefully.   “Why? Do I not seem okay?”   “You seem fine, Kook.” He plays with his ear for a second before resting his arm on his shoulder. “I just don’t want you to be down.”   “I’m not.” The younger male blinks in a bit of confusion.   Yet, Taehyung continues to comfort him. “Well….it would be understandable if you are. You did have your heart broken.”   “What?”   The older man is careful when he speaks, treading like it’s a sensitive topic. “You liked Y/N, right?”   “I...I don’t...didn’t…” His doe eyes are rounded. “What?”   “You don’t have to lie. I noticed your cute crush on our little sweet HR manager.” Taehyung smiles, leaning on him. “It’s okay, Kook. No one really saw it coming — who knew Hoseok would snatch her up.”   “What?!” Jungkook is more shocked about this than anything else. “You know?”   Taehyung scoffs in offence. “Well, I’m not an idiot! It’s obvious they’re together, right?”   “I...uhh…”   “C’mon, let’s get up and go eat some ice-cream!” Taehyung pulls him to his feet, ready to march out the door, but then he stops himself. “But...give me a minute. I’m going to change and buy these pajamas first.”   Jungkook with a sheepish smile watches his mentor march back into the change room. To be frank, he’s always admired you more than having a romantic interest in you and wanting to pursue that interest. Still, he’s glad that there are people around him who care and pay attention to know these small details in his life that he keeps hidden. But if Jungkook was being more honest, he was intrigued. How did Taehyung know and how has he not said a single thing.   You don’t even know Taehyung knows. There’s no other plausible explanation — he must be a secret genius.

Around the table, each and every person is tired. Their eyes are stinging from staring at screens and tiny sentences forced together in large paragraphs. Their lower backs are beginning to ache from sitting all day and their fingers are cramping from incessant typing. Neither Hoseok nor Jimin are in the office, so they take the opportunity to pause from their work.   Namjoon removes his glasses, placing them on the table to stretch his limbs. He makes noises as he does so, groans and bones cracking pleasantly. Seokjin pulls out his bottom drawer, exposing bags of snacks kept hidden from Jungkook, and he swipes up a bag of chips, opening the bag to chomp on them. Seulgi also takes her break, rolling her neck in circular motions, leaning back, yawning.   “We’ve got two hours to go,” Namjoon mumbles.   Seulgi wonders if she should just bang her head on the table and put herself out of her own misery. “Ughhh…”   Seokjin hums, dusting off his fingertips and swallowing his mouthful. “What if we just snuck out.”   For a moment, they all envision it. A cloud forms over their head and they share the daydream until it pops and reality comes back to smack them in the face. Seulgi narrows her eyes at him. “Do you want to get fired or your pay to be docked?”   He shrugs. “Y/N would fight for us.”   Namjoon contributes his own opinion, “Probably let us off with a warning.”   The female legal assistant tilts her head to stare at the ceiling. She turns from side to side in her swivel chair, distracting Jungkook and Inyoung, who are seated at the other half of the office, before they realize nothing’s happening and they get back to work. “Actually…..when was the last time Hoseok yelled at us?”   Seokjin scoffs. “Obviously like...five….months...wait….”   “Yeah.” She nods, looking across to both males as realization dawns on her. “Now that I think about it, ever since Y/N came, Hoseok hasn’t been yelling at us or giving us extra work right at five.”   “Huh.”   “If anything, he’s been more lenient than ever.” Namjoon returns to his work, his fingers moving along the computer keyboard, but he’s still distracted talking. “We went out for lunch two weeks ago and he praised my performance.”   “Woah, since when did you get chummy with our crazy boss?” Seulgi is genuinely surprised, feeling a bit betrayed if anything. Usually the complaints for Hoseok were endless. She gets it if you were the one to defend him since you’re in HR and responsible for making a better work environment. But she never expected to hear it from Namjoon.   Much to the female’s revelation, Jin also has a good word for his boss. “Now that we’re talking about it, the other week I stayed back and finished some stuff and my damn car wouldn’t start so Hoseok drove me home.”   “What?”   Namjoon looks away from his monitor. “Has he not done anything for you recently?”   “Well….I guess he’s been smiling and talking to me a lot more. He also remembered when I told him my younger brother got into the college of his choice and he asked me what major he was going into.”   “I didn’t think he’s raised his once to me in these past few months or even reprimanded me for anything, even when I forgot to do those photocopies for him.” Jin puts his snacks back into his lower drawer again. “He’s been actually pretty nice these days.”   “Wow, never thought I’d see the day when someone would say that,” Seulgi muses, thinking about it for a long second.   It’s not long before the trio of them get back to their work, but in the back of their minds they dwell on the thought that their boss isn’t so bad. He’s reliable, encouraging, and maybe they didn’t know him so well in the beginning as they thought.

The sheet of the mattress pulls. The sunshine pulls through the curtain. As much as he would like to sleep and hope that after death there’s more and more sleep available for him, because that would certainly be paradise in itself, the sheer brightness of the sunlight forces him awake.   Yoongi’s eyes slowly open. His lashes bat a few times until he recognizes the familiar figure beside him. Instantly, a smile tugs on his lips, despite having always been known as the morning grump. He reaches out, brushing hair away from her face before lightly shaking her awake.   “Lee…”   “Hmm?”   “It’s mid-afternoon. We should get up.”   The girl grunts, rolling everywhere, building the momentum until she flops over to face him. She pouts with one eye open. “Don’t wanna.” Instead of sounding cute, she sounds angry.   But Yoongi ignores her anyway, picking up his phone to check the time. He goes through his messages, skimming them before setting it down and shaking her again. “C’mon, babe. We should eat or actually do something before the sun sets again.”   Sunyi sighs, lashes batting as she slowly gains the strength to open her eyes again. Then a sheepish smile spreads through her face at the thought of food. “What do you want to eat?”   “I’m fine with anything.”   “How about noodles?”   “I’ll order that right now.” He opens up an app on his phone and within three minutes, it alerts him the delivery guy is on his way. Yoongi peeks at her. “It’s a date, right?”   “All our outings are dates,” Sunyi mumbles, trying to rub the sleepiness out of her eyes.   “Really?” There’s a stupid, gummy grin plastered on his face.   “I’ve given up,” she sighs, pulling up the blankets and cuddling them, covering her exposed skin from the cool air. “You’d better treat me right before I dump your ass, Min.”   Yoongi drops his phone, letting it get lost in the abyss of fluffed covers and he hugs her body, smile infectious on his face and unable to be repressed. “We’ve been together for two years. I don’t think you’d dump my ass any time.”   “Don’t get too cocky.”   He presses a soft kiss to her forehead before muttering, “Sunny…”   “What?” Her tone is harsh, annoyed with how he keeps interrupting her when she’s trying to go back to sleep.   “You should shower. Your hair’s starting to smell.” All at once, he’s being smacked and assaulted by a pillow. Yoongi laughs, arms shielding away his face. Suddenly, she has all the energy in the world, no longer tired or sleepy, too passionate about smothering him to death as he’s giggling away. “I’m joking!”   “Are you?!” She pulls the pillow away for a second, sparing him from the onslaught.   “We’ll shower together.”   “Ugh!” Sunyi chucks the pillow and it lands on the ground. Yoongi laughs, getting up and tugging her arm until she’s forced into a seated position on the bed. He walks off to the washroom, flickering the lights on and running the water in the shower. “Come on. Before the takeout gets here.”   “Load up my toothbrush!”   “Don’t worry, I already have it ready — you need to brush your teeth too!”   Sunyi sighs for the second time, bracing herself before throwing off the covers. She grins and runs off towards the hot shower. As unbearable as Min Yoongi can be, she wouldn’t have this any other way.

It’s quiet in the elevator. Maybe it’s a part of the Monday blues. Your mind is slow to operate, brain empty as you watch the numbers go up, increasing at a snail’s pace. Jimin is holding his coffee cup, tired from the early morning as well, but he takes a glance at you and softly smiles.   “So…” He takes a sip of his drink. “Hoseok, huh.”   “What?” You turn to Jimin, shocked. “He told you?”   He has no idea what you mean, but Jimin gives a muted nod anyhow. “Course he did. I’m his partner.”   You’re wholly confused. You thought Hoseok agreed to not tell anyone. But now’s not the time to question his decision. “Don’t worry. I made sure the first thing we did was sign the contract and paperwork.”   “Oh, I’m not worried about that.” Jimin is talking out of his ass, not knowing where this was going, but he’s a master of winging it.   “Alright….okay…” It’s uncomfortable, air suffocating and you clear your throat before glancing at him, not quite sure how to address this. “Hoseok and I, we already had a talk and we want to stay professional in the office. We love our jobs and we don’t want our private matters to affect our work performance.”   “Wait.” He puts two and two together, quick-witted to a fault. “You’re with Hoseok?!”   “What?”   “You’re with him?! Dating him?!”   “Hoseok didn’t tell you?!”   “No!” Finally, everyone is on the same page and you’re mortified. You can’t believe you were duped to blow your own cover. But Jimin doesn’t mind at all — his grin is spreading into his cheeks and he’s jumping up and down, all around, hyperactive and freaking out. It’s as if he won the lottery or the team he’s been rooting for all season has won the Super Bowl. “Oh my god! Oh my god! That's so amazing!”   Jimin grabs your arms, making you hop with him and his giddy laughter is contagious. “I knew it! I so knew it!” The elevator doors open on a different floor. Three people appear, surprised and caught off guard. They step back, deciding to take the next one and you apologize, watching the doors close again. “This is so great! I always knew you and Hoseok were perfect for each other!”   You giggle with him. “Well don’t go telling everyone!”   “How long have you guys been together?”   “Like two months?”   “Two entire months?! You didn’t think of telling me?”   “We-….I didn’t think you’d be this excited.” Even Hoseok’s parents weren’t this enthusiastic about you and Hoseok. Maybe Jimin was living vicariously through you or he was genuinely just happy. Either way, you’re becoming giddy from just watching him.   “I’m ecstatic!”   You end up being summoned to Jimin’s office with Hoseok in tow. The two of you gather like suspects on trial and Jimin is on the other side of the desk, stern with his hands clasped together. The pair of you ask him to keep it private, not wanting to expose your relationship when it was still relatively new and not wanting employees to look at you differently.   He agrees, but questions why he wasn’t told. Then you’re bombarded with how it happened, when it happened, where it happened. You’re only freed when Hoseok picks you up from your seat and you both walk out the door, away from Jimin’s nosy self.   But really, if you had to retell the story of you and Hoseok, you wouldn’t even know where to begin.

#bts fanfic #bts scenario #hoseok fanfic #hoseok fanfiction #hoseok scenarios #EVERYTHING'S GETTING WRAPPED UP Y'ALL #LAST CHAPTER COMING UP AFTER THIS ONE!!! WOOHOOOOO

[deniigi]

@flightlessboy

A gift! Of Matt fretting and Sam hiding Kirsten’s cigarettes! It ispart of a larger piece which explores Matt and Sam’s relationship.

**slight discussion of immigration issues and poverty below. I have tried very hard to research this but am unsure how Sam can be helped as an undocumented person. If anyone has more experience/better understanding of what might be done to help Sam, I would love very much to hear from you so that I don’t go into this making a mess of things.

The piece is written from Kirsten’s POV

---

Ficlet title: mountain tops

Sam had come to them all the way from New York on nothing but a whim and a taut string of hope.

They hadn’t known for months just how much he’d risked to get there. They hadn’t known until Matt had noticed that his little hanger-on was arriving to train with him with a perpetually growling stomach. He’d nagged the kid to eat before their impromptu sessions and had come home to chew his fingers and tap on things and bounce his knee in concern, no matter how many times Foggy and Kirsten told him that his new-found student would be just fine.

Really, it was around then that Matt’s paternal instincts crawled back out of the pit in which they’d hidden to make a grand second appearance.

And it was around the time that it became clear to Matt that Sam didn’t have a consistent place to sleep at night—if he even had a place to sleep at night—that those instincts decided that they were done singing in the chorus, it was their time to shine goddamnit.

Sam was an incredible kid. He was a little on the short side, scrappy, and quick-witted and his mind was like no other. He saw Kirsten smoking one day and was intrigued.

Kirsten saw everything that was about to happen in fast-forward in her head and very, very stoically offered the kid a drag.

He took a drag.

He nearly busted a lung trying to evacuate the toxins from his body. And then, once teary-eyed and recovered, he’d decided that he wasn’t about to stand by and let Kirsten expose herself to such carcinogenic filth.

He was brilliant, Sam.

Kirsten was a champion at hide-and-seek, but even she couldn’t find where he was hiding her packs of cigarettes. She didn’t know how, but he managed to sneak the things right out of her hand. Off the edge of her desk, out of her drawers.

In complete and utter silence.

At first, he’d allowed her about four or five cigarettes a day before the pack went missing. Then it was three or four. Then two or three. And before Kirsten knew it, she found that the craving could be satisfied while drinking or occasionally at a party.

Sam had let her hold onto the pack in her purse for a while now and it was only missing maybe three smokes. It had been a month.

Sam was a smart fucking kid who was in this shit for the long con.

He did subtle shit like that all the time. He rearranged the papers on Matt’s desk when he was edging towards manic territory so that Matt’s fingers did not, as they were wont, always land on the biggest and baddest legal troubles submitted to their firm. Sam, as their firm’s paralegal, worked quietly with the secretary to establish the same kind of pacing in all of their schedules so that, rather than being hit with wave upon wave of life-or-death situations, they got an ebb and flow of cases of varying difficulty and effort so that a struggle in a big case was preceded and followed by the relief of accomplishment of the smooth completion of a few easy others.

Sam was a master social-engineer and he was a damn good researcher and it was an actual, honest to god, massive load of shit and unfairness that he endured all this shit without having the rights and privileges of a citizen.

Kirsten had secretly gotten him a lawyer.

Secretly because Sam would panic and dip out of sight if he thought someone else was aware of his situation.

Secretly also because she and Foggy and Matt weren’t strong enough in immigration law to know what could be done for him. They didn’t want to build him up only to punch him in the gut.

This was a young man who’d gone cold and hungry for the mere opportunity to have the living shit beaten out of him three thousand miles away from home. He’d risked everything he knew so that he could learn to help his community in NYC. He’d risked his life and his family and his body to do it.

The chances for Sam were slim.

On the one hand, he’d been brought here as a child, it hadn’t been his decision. But he’d never filed any paperwork for it and so DACA wasn’t really an option for him.

Sam had a better shot when his sister turned twenty-one; then, through her, he might become eligible for a greencard. But to do that, he’d probably have to go to China for the waiting period before an official interview.

He was scared. He didn’t know anyone in China. His family in China was distant. He couldn’t remember most of them, he’d met them when he was so young. He didn’t want to talk about it, he’d only told this to Matt. And Matt had…Matt had become a version of himself which had taken both Kirsten and Foggy by surprise.

Matt was always Daredevil, he was Daredevil at home, in bed, in the kitchen, the courthouse, the firm’s waiting room. Matt was always Daredevil.

But with Sam, Matt was a strange mix of Matt Murdock and Daredevil and what Foggy hypothesized was a little hint of Jack Murdock.

Matt told Sam that his information was safe and that he was safe and that he was so, so brave.

He was humbled by Sam’s commitment and his whispered fears and his soft distress.

He seemed taken by Sam’s intelligence and humor.

Sam was, and it was hard not to notice it once you had, a version of Matt from a different time and a different place and Matt wanted nothing more than to be the person that he’d needed when he stood in similar shoes to Samuel.

He became tolerant of Sam’s ribbing and whining and agitating. He was extremely indulgent with the kid. He’d allow more touch than usual. He’d allow closer proximity. Jokes, teasing, taunting, pranks, horseplay. He let Sam come into his space when he was feeling anxious or scared or fury or distressed to the point of tears.

He promised Sam things that he could not promise and offered support that he didn’t have to give.

Sam, for his part, took these things and pressed into Matt’s heart with such trust and loyalty that, in the end, it was as if both their debts were paid and the scales were balanced.

Matt loved that boy. He loved him and he’d do anything for him, even if he didn’t want Sam to ever see that.

Matt still had his shells. But his shell with Sam was a lot like his shell with Kirsten and Foggy—they were talking crabs here, not turtles. Soft. Pliable.

He didn’t even seem to know that he treated Sam more like a son than an apprentice when it counted.

#fic #samuel chung #daredevil #someone help me help sam he deserves nice things #Matt is stunted emotionally and has latent parental instincts which he pours out all over Sam #He's scared of that tho and refuses to acknowledge that there is now a whole new addition to his family #Sam is confused but is happy for family where he can get it #Even if it looks like a tall carrot top guy #his husband kind of girlfriend and their two dogs #ficlet

[c0x1a4]

As long as most psychologists are going to be

1. Inaccessible to most people

2. Extremely patronizing to neurodivergent

3. Be completely clueless about neurodivergent people

And frankly, even these criteria improve, you should probably not turn into a police detective whenever a person has a considered, researched self-diagnosis. They know themselves, the doctor knows many people better than most outsiders but still not as well as the subject. I might also have psychoses but I’m MORE than aware of what is, and isn’t real, I’m capable of piecing together my emotions, thoughts, and synthesizing that with scholarly information about psychology, I’ve done painstaking reading, research, and naval gazing and come to the conclusion that I’m almost definitely undiagnosed high-functioning autistic. Of all the things psychologists have talked with me about, and all the things I’ve pored over trying to solve my “problems”, it’s the only one that makes sense of my life, explains why I have profound difficulty socializing with new people, why I can hear a leitmotif a few times and remember it perfectly but have trouble understanding words if there’s any sound whatsoever around it (I frequently look up lyrics to songs I’ve sung wrong and discover lyrics I completely misunderstood or simply hadn’t been able to parse at all) I am sometimes capable of doing NT-expected pleasantries but sometimes can’t even form a sentence to respond or don’t respond as “politely” as expected (Not because I’m trying to be rude-quite the contrary, I’m trying to be polite and don’t know how to interface with the other person), I can overcome sensory overload for a while but sometimes it just becomes too much and I have no choice but to take myself out of a situation for a few minutes while I stare like a chicken hawk at the threat (I’ve discovered meditation helps, but ultimately I have to FORCE myself to cope often and my executive function suffers profoundly), I’m a VERY, PICKY, EATER and I’ve tried to FORCE myself to like things like carrots, tomatoes, green beans, and strawberries but I CANNOT tolerate them no matter how hard I try (I can tolerate these things when they’re mixed with other flavors, for instance if the strawberry is blended with a lot of extra sucrose it’s tolerable, I like ketchup and salsa but I tried adding just diced tomatoes to some eggs recently and I COULD NOT SWALLOW THEM AT ALL and had to compost them instead. Oh, like many a stereotypical example, I LOVE COMPUTERS. I’m completely obsessed with them. The downside is, I was homeschooled by really negligent parents who only occasionally made sure I was doing schoolwork instead of (a) learning how to defeat various internet blocks (b) Installing/live booting Linux (c) Reading literally everything I could get my hands on about Apple/UNIX/Hardware et cetera. From about 2008-2014, my interest in computers turned into a complete OBSESSION with Apple and Apple alone. I read Apple, I memorized as much as I could, I learned how to do things in OS X and iOS even though I didn’t have any apple products, I learned how to form PLISTS, how iTunes was structuted, I knew every spec, price, advertising info, et cetera. I told everyone who wasn’t using a Mac their computers and taste in them were dumb (I often said r*****ed) and went on a spiel about all the great things about Macs and iPhones, then iPads, and it pissed everyone off and I had NO EARTHLY IDEA until YEARS after it happened. I was also obsessed with rollercoasters from 2004-2009 or so I was completely obsessed with rollercoasters. My favorite game growing up became RollerCoaster Tycoon (The first one My ability to care about special interests diminished in 2014 when, at the age of 20, I got my first job in the real world. I discovered nobody cared that much about Apple, or 30 Rock, or Phineas and Ferb, or roller coasters, or computers in general, and that didn’t bother me so much as the fact that I didn’t really have the spoons to care much. I had been attempting to learn Cisco CCNA and get a cert, but after I got a call center job I discovered I just did not have one single fuck to give about the things I actually cared about. I stopped going to Ars Technica, MacWorld (which I think went under that year anyway), TechCrunch, Gizmodo, et cetera and stopped listening to my tech podcasts. I felt further away from myself than ever. Recently I’ve taken to autodidacticism. I’ve been teaching myself algebra, geometry, et cetera and I’m going to learn and practice math every day in my free time. After I know enough math I’m going to take MIT’s EE/CS courses from OpenCourseWare, do all assignments, carefully grade myself honestly, apply theory to practice, and work at it in my free time until I’m a computer scientist, electrical engineer, and mathematician extraordinaire. I’m going to work towards a Paralegal Studies AAS and General Studies AS at Pellissippi.

I’m going to kick ass. I’m going to contribute to the world. I’m going to make my insistence on correctness and refusal to give up my strongest assets.

#myself #gpoy #self-diagnosis #autodidact #autism #aspergers #psychology

[statusquoergo]

Credit where credit is due, Gabriel did a nice job directing this episode. He had more screen time that I’m used to from actors pulling double duty, and he seems to have handled the extra workload well.

That’s not to say the episode was flawless. Yeah, by Season 9 standards, it was pretty good overall, but I mean. Season 9 standards.

We start off at home with Louis and Sheila having a terse exchange over tea as I wonder, yet again, why they’re together at all if they’re always so goddamn pissy about everything. Louis bemoans his demotion as Sheila irritably directs him to drink his rooibos and asks him what the big deal is, being that he didn’t even want the job in the first place (true). Louis parries that he only said that because Donna offered it to him the same night he found out about Sheila’s pregnancy (true), but at any other time in his life, he would have taken it (false). On the contrary, you may remember this fairly unambiguous exchange from “Pecking Order” (s08e02) between Doctor Lipschitz and Louis: “As I recall, you accepted Harvey becoming managing partner after Jessica left.” “That’s when I realized I didn’t want to be managing partner.” I suppose I’ve never accused this show of internal consistency before, why bother starting now?

Louis then delightfully compares himself to a ball-less cat and laments that though “the job wasn’t sunshine and rainbows, [he] was getting really good at it,” and excuse me but what? Forget that disastrous hearing that summoned Faye to their doorstep, his most recent acts as managing partner include trying to bully Professor Gerard into letting him be the keynote speaker at Harvard’s Ethic Conference to talk up his failing firm, and going completely off the rails trying to fire the poor IT guy for failing to digitally break into the New York State Bar Association. Louis sucked at being managing partner.

Next up is a reminder that I need to be careful what I wish for as Donna and Harvey discuss his reflexive support of her impassioned but quite incorrect argument against Louis trying to fire Benjamin, and how much she didn’t appreciate it. Turns out it wasn’t so reflexive; he did it because she thought she would like it, which is its own magnificently flawed concept—thinking she’ll get mad at him for disagreeing with her doesn’t say much for his respect for her integrity—but then Donna realizes that he’s afraid she’s going to leave him if he doesn’t unconditionally support her, and you just know the writers thought they were being real clever with this. (Wait, isn’t one of Harvey’s defining character traits his ability to read people? “You read books, I read people” was actually one of the first things he said to Mike in the pilot… Gosh it’s been a long time.)

As I was saying about this show’s internal consistency, two things about this whole exchange: One, all through Season 7, Harvey had no trouble calling Paula out when she was being ridiculous and disagreeing with her about all kinds of shit. Two, as recently as “Everything Changes” (s09e01), Harvey cooed that “[he’s] finally where [he’s] supposed to be” when he’s with Donna, to which Donna replied “We both are,” and like, are they a match made in Heaven right out of the box or what? His trust in their relationship is wildly inconsistent. Unless he wants to forfeit his autonomy for some reason? I don’t know, it’s weird and I don’t like it.

I also take issue with Donna’s dismissive “Oh, my god. Of course. Harvey, I’m not gonna leave you.” This has been an issue for him since forever, as she well knows, but rather than ask him what’s wrong—is he really afraid she’ll leave him over something so small?—or point out that he needs to go to therapy (if she wants to be tactful, she could ask if he wants to “talk to someone” about this), she treats it as an endearing character quirk, and someone needs to save Harvey from all this shit yesterday.

The interruption to this…reconciliation isn’t quite as cringy as the can opener bit from the last episode, but I’ve gotta call it out for being just some truly lazy storytelling. Gretchen appears out of nowhere to tell them they “need to go see Louis,” on account of his demotion, and Donna’s deer-in-headlights response is “Oh, my god. We need to go to him right now.” Yeah, no shit, that’s what Gretchen just said, except this framing affords Harvey the opportunity to mount his noble high horse and declare: “No. You go to him. I need to go see Faye.” Which he does, dramatic music and all, declaring that “dammit, not everybody has to do everything by [her] book,” and I must point out that she demoted Louis for trying to fire the employee who he asked to perform an illegal activity that he failed to perform only because he was caught; in what book is that okay? He then asserts: “You want consequences, I’ll give you consequences,” which is delightfully reminiscent of that old classic, “I’ll give you something to cry about,” in that it makes absolutely no sense, and Harvey, you adorable impetuous dumbass, if your goal is to convince her to leave, I think you might be going about it in a little bit the wrong way.

Roll title crawl! (No seriously, that was all just the cold open.)

Anyway Donna does go to comfort Louis, already treating herself and Harvey as a unit when she assures him that “if [he] ever [needs her] or Harvey during any of this Faye bullshit,” they’re there for him, and dropping the much more interesting detail that she has a much older sister she doesn’t want to talk about who “turned every man she was ever with into an emotional doormat,” which I don’t have time to fic right now but I feel like might explain a lot. Then Alex and Samantha have an endearing little exchange wherein Samantha proposes doing something to help Louis and Alex clarifies that it has to be ethical, and it’s nice to know that at least a couple of people around here aren’t completely insane.

Speaking of things being insane, I won’t fault Gabriel for this because the direction itself is fine, but from a writing perspective, the narrative construct of this next scene is terrible. Harvey shows up at a meeting with Some Guy whose nondescript company is apparently, thanks to his board and the company’s lawyers, being taken over (by someone) against his wishes, and the only hint of context for any of this is that “the people” orchestrating this takeover are “related” to Faye. The obvious conclusion to this exchange is that Harvey is going to help this guy, who is apparently the CEO of this random organization, sue the company by acting as a shareholder rather than a C-level employee, and I still have no idea what the fuck is going on.

Back at the firm where I do kind of know what’s going on, Susan the Associate approaches Katrina with a problem she found in the VersaLife case Katrina’s working, and as soon as they gave her a name in the last episode, I know she was going to be important. More to the point, it looks like Katrina’s got herself an associate! (Remember when senior partners were required to hire their own associates? It was a whole big thing back in Season 1, I think.)

Next up, Louis is having lunch with an old friend, Saul the Judge, who informs him that some other judge is retiring or being fired or something, and offers him a judgeship, and there is so much wrong with this scene that I don’t even know where to begin.

Yes I do. Since when has Louis’s lifelong dream been to be a judge? This is literally the first time he’s ever expressed any interest in it, at all. And another thing, that is not how judicial selection works.

In New York State, judges, depending on the court, are either appointed by the governor and confirmed by the State Senate, nominated by a commission and approved by the governor, chosen at a partisan nominating convention and elected by the voting public, or appointed by the mayor. Qualified individuals can apply to be considered, such as by the Mayor’s Advisory Committee, but there’s no one-and-done offer/acceptance transaction between someone currently on the bench and his lawyer pal, so either this guy is offering Louis a job that doesn’t exist or, more likely, the writers don’t know shit about the New York City legal system.

Moving on. Harvey shoves a recusal form in Faye’s face as he informs her that he “got” a case against her old firm, and he’s “taking it,” as though he didn’t go way out of his way to hunt it down in the first place. He then throws a stupidly juvenile hissy fit, claiming he’ll use whatever he fucking has to to “win,” and prove his system his better than hers, but he won’t have to cross any lines because she de-balled (second reference, just as charming as the first) the guys at her old firm so much that “they’re shaking in their boots” at the mere threat of lawsuit. This whole exchange is basically a showcase of Harvey acting like a spoiled child, and I know he’s a passionate guy but I gotta say, I’m getting tired of this whole act.

Back to that clusterfucking disaster of a judgeship offer, Louis fesses up to Sheila but admits that he doesn’t want to accept the drop in salary with a kid on the way, or leave his friends in the lurch, and she in turn fesses up that she asked Saul to make the offer in the first place because “being a judge has always been [his] dream.” (SINCE WHEN?) Louis is incensed until she tells him that it was basically Saul’s idea, but that if he doesn’t take it now, he’ll never get the change again, which… Why? Well, I guess they haven’t pointlessly manufactured any tension in awhile. Anyway, Louis promises to sleep on it.

Elsewhere, Samantha proposes committing conspiracy to get Faye out of their lives and Alex shuts that shit right away, and I’m actually really enjoying their dynamic right now. Susan asks Katrina what she should do about a smart, funny paralegal she clicks with; Katrina, having “seen that before,” recommends finding a new paralegal, and I’ve never had this question before but is Katrina anti-Machel for some reason? Doesn’t matter. Susan proposes reaching out to opposing counsel, who just so happens to be an old family friend, and Katrina wisely tells her not to, but somewhat less wisely starts and ends her rationale with “Because I know,” which I’m sure won’t motivate Susan to act in any sort of way.

Now, I’m no dream theorist, but luckily this show has all the subtlety of a Liberace action figure, so it’s not too difficult to figure out what Louis’s subconscious mind is trying to say: He wants to humiliate Faye (for demoting him and taking over his firm), he wants to bang Donna (and maybe also Alex), he thinks of Harvey as his peer but also his inferior (who he wants desperately to impress and probably also to fuck), and his confidence is mainly derived from the approval and admiration of others. Also he wants to have sex with basically everyone. Maybe not Gretchen. But everyone else.

Dr. Lipschitz, to whom Louis was evidently relaying the events of this dream, finds the whole thing quite amusing, but points out that if Louis takes the judgeship, he won’t have his friends around him anymore. Double-edged sword and all that.

Part II

#suits usa #season 9 #s09e03 #analysis

[lostinaseaoffictionalbliss]

Only In My Dreams Part 5

Summary: Courtney begins to realize just how different things are between the two lives shes living, but it gives her even more questions than answers.

Pairing: Sam X OC

Warnings: fingering

Word Count: 1534

Courtney began to wake. She expected to feel her head throbbing, sticky blood on the side of her head, and possibly nausea. However she felt none of that. The pain she felt was in her arm and her chest. With a slight groan she opened her eyes only to find she wasn't in the mall anymore. She was back at the hotel with Sam and Dean. For a moment she was confused, but at this point she was beginning to think that anytime she went to sleep she was going to wake up in a different place. Not that that answered any of her questions, though.

No matter how much thinking she did she couldn't figure out what life was real, which memories, which world. And with her going back and forth every time she woke up she doubted she would be able to figure it out. Was it possible that both were real? That she was somehow living two different lives with no way of knowing which one was her real life. Courtney was beginning to wonder if she should even try to figure it out. So far she had came up with nothing. And she had no idea where to look next.

Movement behind her had her turning a little. Seeing Sam she smiled softly. His eyes opened up and he smiled sleepily at her. His long fingers brushed her hair from her face before trailing down her side to rest on her hip. “Morning beautiful. How are you feeling?” He asked, his voice still rough from just waking up.

“I've been better, but I'll live. Just some pain. I won't be able to hunt til I heal.”

Sam hummed. “If we find a hunt you'll have to hang back. Just until you're better. But I could help take your mind of that pain.” He squeezed her hip softly and raised a brow. He was wondering if she felt up to what he was proposing. He certainly hoped so as it had been a few days since they had been together. Courtney quirked a brow not entirely sure what Sam had planned with her being as injured as she was, but she nodded her head. A smirk was her response as Sam's hand slowly, teasingly moved away from her hip to rest on the edge of her shorts. He rubbed the small amount of skin showing before sliding his hand past her waistband. “You'll have to be quiet babydoll don't want to wake Dean,” he whispered.

A sharp intake of air was the only sound Courtney made as Sam's long, thick fingers brushed against her clit and then slid inside her. He was slow, but deliberate as he crooked his fingers to brush against her g-spot, his thumb grazing over her clit. It was almost impossible for her to keep quiet with how well he seemed to know her body. She was gripping his arm with her good hand and biting her lip to keep from crying out. Fire burned through her veins and she knew Sam's hand had to be soaked, but she couldn't bring herself to care. She was in heaven right now as he used two of his long fingers to fuck her.

Sam leaned down and nibbled on her ear blowing hot air on it like he knew she liked. “Cum for me,” he whispered. Her back arched and her walls fluttered around him as her orgasm came crashing down upon her. “Good girl. You stayed quiet.” He kissed her softly and pulled his hand away. Courtney smiled at him in bliss and closed her eyes, but didn't go to sleep.

About 15 minutes passed as she laid snuggled up to Sam before Dean woke with a groan. He made everyone get up and they headed to a diner. As they were eating he found a case. Something about a healthy marathon runner dropping dead from a heart attack. They decided to check it out, but Courtney would be staying in the motel. Sam refused to let her go hunting while being injured; something she was grateful for as she didn't want to go out and hunt anyway. She wanted to stay where it was safe and do a little research of her own. Though she doubted it would turn up anything.

As they rolled into the new town Courtney continued looking out her window trying to decide where she should start her search. This was the first time she was going to be able to look up anything at all. She should probably know where she wanted to start before she started.

“Hey, we're checking in,” Sam said startling her out of her thoughts. Courtney turned and smiled at Sam letting him know she had heard him. “You alright babe? You've been kinda distracted lately. Is there something we should talk about?”

Courtney shook her head. This was definitely not something she wanted to talk about. “Just a lot on my mind. Taking out Lilith for one, our powers, what happens next, and now I'm trying not to think about how much my arm and chest hurts, and how I'm stuck in the motel.” It seemed like a good excuse. If what they told her about her loving going after the monster then surely it was normal for her to be upset about being stuck in the room.

Sam laughed softly and climbed out of the Impala and opened her door for her. “I figured you were pissed you'd be stuck, but it's only for awhile. Soon you'll be right back out there with us.” He kissed her forehead and took her to the room.

As soon as she was alone, Courtney pulled out her laptop. Try as she might she couldn't come up with a good place to start, but remembering what she had been doing right before she woke back up with Sam did give her an idea. She booted up her laptop and once the Google search engine was up she typed in ‘Richard Jackson' thinking her boss was a good enough place to start.

She scrolled through the links and finding one she thought was competent, she clicked on it. The article was about some charity event in New York. She frowned and started reading it.

New York's best defense lawyer, Richard Jackson, who received his degree at a young age and quickly rose through the ranks to become the most recommended lawyer in the US, was seen at this week's gala with none other than Jacqueline Myers, world famous model. Both were in attendance to show their support for The MacArthur House for Women. An organization that helps young women who have been battered, raped, or are simply having a hard time getting on their feet. MacArthur house has also been known to help single mothers who are struggling. Something Richard knows well enough as he watched his own mother suffer the same hardship. After leaving his abusive father, Darla Jackson, was left to care for young Richard on her own, working three jobs just to make ends meet. Richard says this is one of the many reasons that he supports the organization. He was quoted saying, “Growing up, seeing how my father not only physical abused my mother, but emotionally with the drinking and cheating and then her working late nights and long hours to take care of me, I'm glad there are people out there to help. This organization helps women, like my mother. And I'm proud to know that I can show my support to them by making donations and telling others about them.”  Things like this make us wonder how the handsome lawyer is still a bachelor. It's hard to believe he hasn't been snatched up yet with his good looks and all the charisma he exudes.

Courtney read through the article and looked at all the pictures. She couldn't believe what she was reading; her cheating pig of a boss was a really nice single guy. Not only that, but he helped charities and spoke out about women's rights and how women should be treated with respect and kindness. This was nothing like the Richard she was used to back in California where she worked for him as a paralegal.

Research had only added more questions than answers. Not only was she a completely different person in this world, but apparently her boss was as well. “This is all so fucked up. What the hell is going on?” she mumbled just as her phone started to ring. She snatched it up and answered, “Hello?”

“Hey, so it's definitely a case. Three men dead from heart attacks all with healthy hearts and weird scratches on their arms. We're going to talk to the sheriff now. Just wanted to check in. How are your gashes doing?” Sam said.

Courtney shifted in her seat. “I'm alright. A little sore, but alright. Think I'm going to take a shower and then grab some food. See ya soon?”

“Yeah we'll be back soon.”

“Don't forget the pie!” She heard Dean yell in the background.

Courtney laughed softly. “I promise I won't.” But with as jumbled as her mind was she probably would.

#Sam X OC #Sam Winchester #Sam Winchester X OC #Sam x Courtney #Sam Winchester X Courtney #Sam Winchester fics #Sam Winchester fanfiction #Supernatural #Supernatural fanfiction

[scaredofrobots]

Twenty Four Days Of Christmas

Happy One Month Until Christmas Eve! Here is more Christmas universe garbage for @petalstofish  . Heading into theatre tech hell soon so posting while I’m less cray cray. Thanks to Squid Squad for betaing and being my cheerleaders. Love yall! on FFN

For normal people, the acceptable time to decorate for Christmas is December 1st. The inhabitants of 7C were anything but normal, thank you very much. In fact, for the other residents of in the Magnolia Crescent building, Christmas cheer had been creeping into their lives since November 1st when the inhabitants of 7C  had drug two Christmas trees up three flights of stairs and decorated their entire hallway with lights and tinsel.

They’d been skeptical when the group of young people moved in and even more suspicious when it was three young men with one lovely redheaded girl moving into the three bedroom apartment, but the elderly neighbors were happily surprised with how little noise came from the flat.

This was only the case because Lily Evans was the “motherfucking shit,” as Sirius would say, at charms. So 7C (which housed the four former Gryffindors) was sound-proof which is why the other  residents of Magnolia Crescent never heard anything.

And why they didn’t hear the shenanigans going on on December 1. James Potter had taken it upon himself to turn the extra bedroom into a “Happy 24 Days Until Christmas” winter wonderland. He was in the off season for Puddlemere United and had a lot of time on his hands and he was using his pent up energy for good.

His girlfriend of four years, Lily Evans, was working late, so he wanted to surprise her with the first night of JAMES POTTER’S TWENTY FIVE DAY CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN. It was their first Christmas living in the same flat and James had BIG PLANS.

Sirius, however, was skeptical. “You’re up to something else,” he remarked, as James added more tinsel to the mantle.  Rolling his eyes, James responded, “No, I’m not. I’m simply excited for our first Christmas together in the flat.”

Sirius narrowed his eyes, “Fine, don’t tell me, but when whatever this plan is totally fucks up - don’t come crawling to me for help.”

Whatever James’ response was going to be was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening. As she entered the flat Lily announced, “I hope you two are alright with curry - it’s been a shit day and I plan on sticking a straw into that bottle of gin.”

Scrambling to finish tinseling the mantle, James called, “Curry is fine! Come in here and you might feel like drinking the gin from the glass instead!”

Lily set down the take out bags in the kitchen and entered the spare room.

“HAPPY 25 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS LIL,” James exclaimed as she entered the winter wonderland.

He waited anxiously for her response. Lily stood stock still as she took in the decorations. There were paper snowflakes hung from the ceiling, glittery objects everywhere and a countdown banner that was counting down the hours and minutes until Christmas Day.

“Holy shit,” Lily exploded, “Did I finally infect you with the Christmas spirit? THIS IS BEAUTIFUL!!!”

James laughed delightedly as Lily rushed about the room examining every decoration and looking as excited as she did on actual Christmas morning. When she finally reached James she threw her arms around him and kissed him deeply. Sirius took this as his cue to exit and made himself useful by heading to the kitchen to make gin and tonics.

When they pulled away Lily said, “Thank you. It’s beautiful.” James smiled and shrugged, “I know this case has been tough on you. So, I figured I could up the festive this year. You deserve it.”

Lily only smiled and kissed him again. It was true. The law firm Lily had started working for after graduation had picked up the Riddle Case.  Tom Riddle, or Voldemort as his followers called him, had been running an underground blood supremacy group called The Death Eaters. The Levins Law Group was handling the prosecution, and Lily had been working as a paralegal since graduation. The case was complicated and the lawyers and membership of the organization, seemed to change daily. Every time someone was arrested, they would turn in three others for a plea deal. In fact, seven months prior, their very own Peter Pettigrew had been named as a member by Severus Snape.

It had been hardest on James- that someone he would lay his life down for could be taken in by such a terrible organization. When Peter had first been named as a member James was in firm denial. He planned to pay for Peter’s legal fees and bail until the arraignment. When the evidence again to pile up against Peter. James’ heart broke. They’d always joked that “Peter brings a lot to the group dynamic” but Peter was creative and intelligent. Somehow, this creativity had been harnessed into hate. When the original copy  Mudblood Manifesto had been revealed to be written in Peter’s handwriting James knew he could never forgive him. When the photo of Peter smiling next to a tortured muggle child James felt some crimes might be worth the dementor’s kiss.  The spare room they were standing in used to be Peter’s, and James was trying his hardest to heed Lily’s advice and make new happy memories in a place that had made him feel so bitter and angry as they packed up all their former mate’s things.

When they separated, Lily pulled away and pressed her nose against his and whispered, “I love you.”  James started, “Lily, I-”

As was his custom, Sirius Black interrupted this perfect moment with a, “OI! Knock it off you two. Remus isn’t back for another two weeks, and I can’t have you two trying to out-cute us when I can’t even compete”

Remus was in his second year teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts and lived on campus  during the term sessions.

“I still can’t believe Remus is a fucking teacher,” Lily said, before she took a gin and tonic from Sirius.

“I know? I mean bloke can’t even fold his socks right, it is a nightmare.” Sirius shrugged.

“I still can’t believe he made a kid cry,”  James stated as he sat down on a mound of fake snow.

“I can. Those bloody first years are needy. And you know how sarcastic Remus gets when he doesn’t have enough chocolate,” Sirius said fondly.

“Remus’ sarcasm could make even Minnie cry,” Lily confirmed as she plopped down next to James.

The rest of the evening passed by in a blur of drinking, laughing and fake snowball fights. It was the happiest James had seen Lily in months, and he was relieved to know that Christmas still held some magic. Later, when she was snuggled up against him in bed, she told him, “You know this is going to be tradition now right? A winter wonderland on Dec 1?”

James laughed before he kissed her and replied, “As you wish.”

Two weeks of JAMES POTTER’S TWENTY FIVE DAY CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN passed by almost completely without incident. James had recreated some of Lily’s favorite events from her famous 84 day failed advent calendar, and she was more excited for Christmas than she had been in her entire life.

Every evening when she would return home from work, she would rush in and demand to know what the “Christmas Countdown Activity” was.

Sirius, however, found the whole ordeal suspicious. James had always tolerated Lily’s Christmas Obsession at best, but now it seemed almost like he was trying to out-Christmas Lily Evans.

He confronted James about it when they were traveling to pick Remus up from Kings Cross on December 18. As they stood on the platform with their “Professor Remus Lupin” sign wearing their chauffeur uniforms, which had started as a joke but had quickly become tradition, Sirius broached the subject. “SO what are you up to with the Christmas Countdown, mate? You’re suspiciously festive- and I know a Potter scheme when I see it.”

James dropped the sign. Picking it up, he responded (in a slightly higher tone than normal), “I’m not up to anything! Just want to make our first Christmas in the flat special. Does Lily think I’m up to something?”

Sirius stared at him for a long moment. “No. Lily hasn’t mentioned anything to me. But as I said, you seem suspiciously festive and I get the distinct feeling you are up to something.”

His composure regained, James reiterated “I just want to make our first Christmas in the flat special. To show Lily how I am excited about her favorite holiday.”

As they stood there waiting, Sirius tried to piece together the clues.This year, James had gone absolutely bonkers over Christmas. He hadn’t complained once in November when they were putting up the Christmas decorations, whereas last year he refused to even look at Lily’s tree until December. He had even taken to wearing a different Christmas jumper every day just to make Lily smile, and he had a list of events for every day. It was like he was Lily Evans on a Christmas overdose. Which only meant one thing.

“So you’re trying to out Christmas her then? That is it? You’re in the off-season so your competitiveness is showing itself in some mad Christmas spirit contest that she doesn’t even know she is a part of?” Sirius exclaimed.

Laughing James said, “Alright alright- you figured out my big secret. Just don’t tell Lily”

They were interrupted by the arrival of Remus. “I really wish you two would stop with the damn sign and the damn uniforms. I’m not your child.”

“But Remus,” Sirius gasped holding a hand to his chest, “How else are we going to practice the multitude of ways we are going to embarrass our children when they go to Hogwarts.”

Remus simply grumbled, handed Sirius his suitcase, and said, “Lead the way then, oh brave chauffeurs.”

On the drive home, Remus updated them on the goings on at Hogwarts. As he was telling them the dramatic details of the most recent break up of a couple of sixth year Ravenclaws, Sirius exclaimed, “I always knew the professors were bloody gossips.”

“It’s free entertainment, mate. We aren’t paid enough, and most of the time I want to hit my head against the wall, so their dramatic lives are something to look forward to. And don’t act like you don’t live for the updates,” Remus countered.

They arrived at 7C Magnolia Crescent and were greeted with a very festively dressed Lily Evans who had spent her day off making a “WELCOME HOME REMUS” feast, which was strangely close to what a Christmas dinner would be like.

The next three days were full of “Mandatory Festive Fun, Remus you big stick in the mud,” James- not Lily- would say every morning. James had planned an obnoxious amount of Christmas activities and since Lily was off work and Remus was back, each day was packed with festive activities.

On the 19th, Remus’ first day home. James naturally had arranged for them to relive The Polar Express by riding a train to Hogwarts where he had somehow convinced Dumbledore to play the role of Santa and to give each one of them sleighbells. They took the Knight Bus home and enjoyed the hot chocolate except for Remus who was unamused by having to make the long train ride two days in a row.

The next day, they all went ice skating. This was when Remus finally perked up because James and Sirius were terrible.  Lily and Remus spent hours trying to get James and Sirius to make at least one loop around the ice but both of them would fall in a tangle of legs and arms every time. The four of them hadn’t laughed that hard since before Peter’s trial and the joy was welcome.

That evening was spent threading popcorn onto string, drinking copious amounts of wine and trying to get their television to work despite the magical interference.  When that failed, James and Lily watched as Remus and Sirius played Wizard’s Chess. When Lily fell asleep against James on the couch Sirius looked to James and told him, “I don’t think you’ll be able to top the past two days mate. And you’ve got 4 days of your countdown left.”

James smiled and told him, “Never doubt me, Sirius. I’m a man on a mission”

Sirius’ response was interrupted by his bishop being destroyed.

The next day was for baking and donating. The four of them spent hours baking, frosting and delivering cookies. Sirius only got in trouble for trying to eat the icing twice while Remus received a lifetime ban for sneaking all of the chocolate chips.

As Sirius watched James and Lily deliver the final cookies he swore he saw the Marauder twinkle in James’ eyes. He had to figure out what James was up too.

On December 22, Sirius had had finally had enough. He knew there was one person who could help him figure it out. Lily Evans (assisted by a chat and some Firewhiskey). James was off for some Puddlemere publicity shoot for the upcoming season, and had left Sirius in charge of the Countdown Activities for the day. Sirius, however saw this as the perfect opportunity to have a Chat With Evans about James’ recently developed Christmas cheer.

Remus had taken his grading to a nearby coffee shop- “I need some fucking quiet Sirius - you’re always so loud. Even your silence is distracting” -he had ranted as he left the flat. So Sirius and Lily were alone for the better part of the afternoon, and Sirius planned to find out if Lily knew what James was planning, or, at the very least, if she found the behavior odd.

He didn’t have to wait long. Halfway into their second bottle of Firewhiskey,  Lily looked at Sirius with a stern expression and asked, “Do you know why James is so suspiciously festive? Is he trying to out-Christmas me? Because I get the distinct feeling James is up to something. I’ve enjoyed every minute, but he is relentless! And he keeps telling me over and over again not to make plans for Christmas Eve, because he has a new tradition planned to end all traditions, and I’m trying to be appreciative but my competitive side is SCREAMING AT ME that is he trying to outdo me. And the whole…”

Lily continued her speculations, and Sirius was filled with relief that Lily, too, found the festive behavior suspicious. As she continued to rant, however- SIrius realized that James wasn’t trying to outdo Lily at all. Suddenly all the behavior he thought was suspicious started to make sense. He thought about the differences between James’ general mischief scheming and his make Lily swoon scheming. And suddenly what James had been scheming hit Sirius like a bolt of lightning. He also realized he hadn’t been listening to a word Lily was saying for at least two minutes. He tuned back in to hear her wondering, “I mean, what could he possibly have planned on Christmas Eve that is so great? I have half a mind to plan an alternative event and botch his plan.”

Panicking because he knew how horribly this all could go Sirius yelled, “NO!”

When Lily looked affronted and asked, “And why the FUCK not?”

“I mean, sure you need to take back your title. Or whatever. But not on Christmas Eve. James has always loved Christmas Eve the most. So just wait until Christmas Day for whatever idea you’re planning,” Sirius explained, rather lamely.

Lily huffed but exhaled “I suppose you’re right. It is Christmas after all. You have to help me though.”

Sirius draped an arm around her shoulders and said, “Of course, Evans, couldn’t leave my prank partner alone in her mischief.”

Lily snuggled closer to him and wrapped her arms around him, “You know I love you Sirius. You’re like the brother I never knew I wanted.”

Sirius kissed the crown of Lily’s head, “I know Evans. But it is far too early in our chat to be getting so weepy.”

Lily sat up on her knees and looked Sirius in the eye, “It isn’t too early in the evening. After Petunia, and Peter and this case- I just want you to know that I love you- you’re my family and I am not going anywhere. You’re stuck with me for forever.”

Sirius smiled and reached for her hand, “Evans, I knew I was stuck with you forever when you wrote a Christmas song about Hippogriffs. Now stop this sappy nonsense. Let’s go spread the Christmas cheer into your bedroom. See how James likes it.”

The rest of the their time was spent singing their old favorite:

God rest ye merry hippogriffs, Let nothing you dismay, For Lily and Sirius Will feed you Christmas Day, And save you all from Slytherins Who all are dirty gits O tidings of comfort and joy, Comfort and joy, Oh tidings of comfort and joy.

And James and Lily’s bedroom was transformed into a Winter Wonderland.

When Remus arrived at 6pm he found them skipping around the spare bedroom throwing fake snowballs.

“OI!” Remus interrupted, “Are you two quite finished? We’re supposed to meet James to go see the Nutcracker in 30 minutes.”

Miraculously, they made it to the theatre with time to spare. Remus and Sirius always forgot that drunk Lily was quick and nimble and, apparently, very very VERY excited to see the Nutcracker.

When they reached James outside the theatre, Lily’s momentum nearly knocked him to the ground when she hugged him.

“I’m on to you, James Potter,” she told him seriously. James immediately paled and looked to Sirius for explanation.

“Yes James, I was telling Lily all about how you’re trying to out Christmas her,” Sirius explained in his lawyer voice and tugged on his left ear which meant that he and James would be having a chat of their own.

Lily giggled and explained “But I am the queen of Christmas cheer and you will never take my crown. Just be prepared.”

Lily started to walk towards the entrance of the theatre and missed the glances exchanged between Sirius and James.

The ballet was wonderful. Sirius thoroughly enjoyed Act One. What he enjoyed even more was how watching how nervous James was acting. James was a bundle of nerves. He seemed like a man on death row.

At intermission, James seemed to have had enough. He told Lily, “Lil, Sirius and I will grab some wines. You and Remus should check out the Christmas Trees of the World display on the second floor lobby.”

Lily, still slightly buzzed, cooed and dragged Remus off.

Sirius crossed his arms and said “When?”

James, startled at his abruptness, answered, “Christmas Eve”

Raising his eyebrow, Sirius asked again, “Where?”

James stuttered, “The- the cottage”

Sirius bit back a smile, “Have you got the-“ as he gestured vaguely.

“What? Oh the- yeah, mum sent it to me ages ago,” James said blushing slightly.

“How?” Sirius interrogated further

“How? Oh well Remus-“ James tried

“REMUS KNOWS?!?!” Sirius erupted, and several patrons stopped to stare. Lowering his voice he continued “You told Remus, but not me- your best mate- your pal- your-“

“Stop. Stop,” James demanded, “I’m sure you’re about to go into a lovely and dramatic rant about how I have betrayed you. But for once in your life just listen.”

Offended, but resolved to be silent, Sirius nodded.

“Look- you know how Lily is. She says she loves surprises, but then she just has to know. She unwraps and rewraps all her presents and thinks none of us knows. She will smell something suspicious and have to know what it is. But this. THIS is the one thing I want to actually surprise her. And if you knew- you’d have one of your chats- which, by the way I know is just the two of you getting smashed and solving problems.”

Sirius interjected, “That is not what our chats are”

“Yes it is, Sirius. And I know all about the Longbottoms wedding, too. John Dawlish was assigned as my auror during Peter’s trial and was very confused when I mentioned I lived with you and Lily,” James smirked.

Sirius shrugged.

Continuing, James breathed out a sigh, “So I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you or Lily to ruin this for her. I want it to be perfect. She deserves it. She deserves it all.”

Sirius studied him, “You’ll take care of her?”

James crossed his heart, “I solemnly swear.”

Sirius held out his hand and James shook it. Feeling that wasn’t enough, the two brothers embraced.

“I’m happy for you mate,” Sirius told him, “I’m right pissed at you, but happy”

James laughed, “Want to help me set up tomorrow?”

“I’d be delighted.” Sirius grinned

They worked their way through the crowd and found Lily and Remus near the Canada tree.

As they approached Remus asked, “No wine?”

Sirius winked and said “They only had white.”

Lily scoffed and said “Uncultured swine,” before looking at the returning boys;, she studied them a moment and remarked, “You two look happy.”

“Ah Evans, three days until Christmas you know. Bloke is bound to be happy,” Sirius chuckled and pulled her into his side.

On the morning of Christmas Eve, Sirius and Lily were eating their breakfast of bacon and toast as they did the daily crossword together. The day before Sirius had finally gotten all the finer details of James’ BIG PLANS and wanted to try and help him make the evening even more perfect.

As they tried to figure out what potion ingredient isn’t used very often and rhymes with jingle, Sirius took a deep breath (said a silent prayer that he wasn’t going to ruin anything) and asked, “So Evans what are you wearing tonight on your super secret festive activity James is dragging you on?”

Lily wrote “D-I-N-G-L-E B-E-R-R-Y” in the offending 13 Across as she answered, “My fucking Christmas Eve Christmas Jumper”

Sirius wrote “D-A-W-N” for 4 Down When are squids most docile?  and responded, “I was thinking we should go to lunch. You could wear your jumper then and dress up tonight?”

Lily looked up at this, “What the fuck are you on about Sirius?”

“I was thinking maybe your green jumper with that black skirt and those boots that drive James mad,” Sirius continues

“Alright, what the fuck Sirius? Fashion advice? What is James planning?” Lily asked

Imagining Lily was McGonagall, Sirius decided to tell a half truth,  “I’m not supposed to tell you- he wants to surprise you- but James is taking you to an old church for their Christmas pageant. It’s in an old village and the people are very old fashioned”

Lily gave a noise that sounded like a squeak and said “Oh, well I do look great in green. And lunch sounds great.”

Lily smiled like an idiot the rest of the day, and Sirius hoped she didn’t figure anything else out.

At 6pm, James and Lily (dressed in the suggested outfit) walked out of the flat and into the cold.

Grinning, James said, “Close your eyes. We’re going to do some apparating”.

Lily did as she was told and held tight to James’ hand.

With a POP they arrived at the small village. James kissed her and then told her, “ok you can open them.”

She opened her eyes and was happy to see the most beautiful village she had ever seen. It looked like every Christmas card she had ever seen and she whispered “Wow”.

“Welcome to Godric’s Hollow, Lily,” James said and kissed her again.

They spent the next half hour walking around and looking at the various shops.

“We’re going to be late,” James exclaimed and started to steer Lily toward the small church near the square.

As they took their seats, he said, “My parents used to bring me here every Christmas. We stopped my seventh year, but I’ve wanted to come back. So I wanted to bring you here to make some new traditions.”

Lily smiled at him and said, “Thank you for bringing me.”

The service began and it was beautiful. Lily was taken back to days when she would attend church with her parents. She remembered the times when she and Petunia were angels in the Pageant, the time Petunia was Mary and Lily was a donkey and most of all how singing “Silent Night” in a candlelit church really but her in the Christmas spirit.

At the gospel reading, they were happy to watch the children of the village perform a Christmas Pageant. Lily fell instantly in love with a set of twin boys who were playing sheep. They went straight up to the baby Jesus and had to be drug from the sanctuary at the end of the pageant.

Later, when the priest was breaking the bread for communion, the twin boys somehow were running down the aisle of the sanctuary and straight to baby Jesus. They remained there for the rest of the service.

As they were leaving,  one of the boys ran up to them and yelled “Happy Christmas!” Lily crouched to his eye level and told him, “Happy Christmas! You were my favorite sheep.”

The little boy grinned and said, “Did you see baby Jesus up there!”

Lily responded, “I did!”

They were interrupted by a very pretty, but tired-looking woman who was saying, “There you are Max! What’ve I told you about running off.”

Max’s mother had the other twin firmly by the hand. “Sorry Mummy,” he murmured and ran over to her.

“Your children are lovely,” Lily stated as she stood up.

The mother smiled and said, “Sometimes. I’m glad we weren’t struck by lightening when they interrupted the Eucharist, but thankfully Father Brown loves children and thinks they should be a part of the service. Are you two new to the village? It’s a great place for young families.”

James smiled and pulled Lily close, “Oh, no, we’re just here for Christmas Eve. My parents used to bring me.”

“Well, I hope to see you two again sometime, but I’ve got to get these little rascals to bed. Happy Christmas,” she said.

“Happy Christmas,” James and Lily chorused.

They left the church, and James requested they go for a stroll. As they relived the most excited points of the Christmas Pageant, James pulled Lily to a stop in front of a small cottage.

“James?” Lily asked and turned to him, “Why are we stopping?”

“Oh, well- another tradition we had when I was younger was that we opened one Christmas gift on Christmas Eve,” James started, “And I wanted to give you this gift here.”

Lily looked at him curiously, “Is there a gift that hasn’t been put under the tree yet?”

“Two actually,” James grinned mischievously.

Lily gasped and said, “You know I hate surprises!”

“I think you’ll like this one.” James grinned and pulled out a narrow rectangle box and handed it to her

Taking great care, Lily unwrapped the box and opened it.

“A key?” she asked “Where to?”

James simply inclined his head to the cottage.

“A house?!?! You’re giving me a house? A house in Godric’s Hollow,” Lily demanded, her voice wavering a little.

James cleared his throat, “Technically, my parents are giving us a house in Godric’s Hollow-let’s go inside, shall we?”

James offered his arm, and Lily took it and muttered, “I cannot believe you.” He chuckled and they walked to the front door. Lily struggled with the key and James told her, “You’ve gotta twist the handle a little- there you go.”

They entered the house and Lily gasped. There were Christmas decorations everywhere. Lights, candles and greenery filled the small entryway.

Eyes twinkling, James said, “Wait until you see the lounge…” He pulled her into the room that was full of four Christmas trees and a roaring fire. Her curious nature getting the better of her, Lily began to walk around the room in wonder. “James- why-” she started, but then stopped short when she saw him.

James Potter was down on one knee in the middle of a cottage in Godric’s Hollow. A cottage his parents had apparently given to him.

She stood staring until James said, “Will you come over here so I can do this properly?”

Lily took the steps towards him and was opening her mouth, but James stopped her. “No, Evans. You are going to let me get all of this out before you say anything or I lose my nerve.”

She nodded and James took this as his cue. Letting out a deep breathe her started, “Lily Evans, I hope you know how much I love you. I love your mad obsession with quidditch, I love how filthy your mouth is, and that you can drink any of us under table.” At this Lily laughed, “You’re so kind, but you don’t take any shit and I love that about you. You make me want to be a better man. You’ve made me a better man. I love every minute I’ve spent with you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to embarrass our kids on the platform when we pick them up from Hogwarts with you and I want to spend every Christmas Eve until I die in this cottage with you. So, Evans, fancy trading in your last name for a new one?”

Raising an eyebrow Lily said, “Sirius gave you the last line then?”

Groaning, James said “Lily-”

“I don’t know- I might have to think about it- speak to my lawyer, Sirius-” she said trying to hide the smile that was threatening to come out.

“Lily…” James whined.

Laughing, she grabbed both James’ hands and pulled him to his feet, “Yes, you great prat. I’ll marry you.”

Their kiss was a mess of laughter and tears. When they pulled away they were both smiling and then James remembered, “Oh the ring!”

He pulled the box from his pocket and opened it quickly, “It’s Goblin made, an old family heirloom- do you like it?” Kissing him again she answered, “I love it- but you could tie a bit of string around my finger and I’d be happy.” James slid the ring onto her finger and kissed her again.

Moments later Sirius and Remus burst out of the kitchen yelling “Congratulations!” holding a bottle of champagne and four glasses.

James and Lily separated and accepted the champagne.

“Alright there, Evans?” Sirius asked her as they embraced.

“Perfect, Sirius. What more could a girl want?”

It was the first Christmas they spent as a family in Godric’s Hollow. But it certainly wasn’t the last.

#robots writes #squid squad #the minor character squad #robots loves petals more than Christmas aisle at Walmart #elle is a bell #levity levins #beks is bae #jilyfanfic #jily fanfiction #jily

[domestic-harry]

Hi! I really loved your fic recs based on Harry's album. Do you have any for mitam? (I'm feeling really nostalgic for ot4 today :/ ) thank you so much!

Hey Angel

Oh I wish I could be more like youDo you wish you could be more like me? 

Pull Me Under : AU. As the first British footballer to come out at the prime of his career, it helps that Louis Tomlinson is in a long-term, committed relationship. Even if that relationship is fake. (Featuring Niall as Louis’ favourite teammate, Liam as Louis’ agent, and Zayn as Liam’s boyfriend, who just happens to be good friends with one Harry Styles.)

Drag Me Down

If I didn’t have you there would be nothing leftThe shell of a man who could never be his best

Never Gonna Dance Again : Louis is a spy and Harry is a dancer. The only real thing they know is each other. 

Perfect

And if you like having secret little rendezvousIf you like to do the things you know that we shouldn’t doThen baby, I’m perfect 

Unbelievers : It’s Louis’ senior year, and he’s dead set on doing it right. However, along with his pair of cleats, a healthy dose of sarcasm and his ridiculous best friend, he’s also got a complicated family, a terrifyingly uncertain future, and a mortal enemy making his life just that much worse. Mortal enemies “with benefits” was not exactly the plan.

Infinity

All I ever wanted was the truth,How many nights have you wished someone would stay? 

Into The Blue : AU. In which Louis is Harry’s scuba instructor and quite happy to provide the requested special treatment, pun fully intended. It can’t be all that difficult to convince Harry that they’re on the same page, right? Also, Niall and Liam may or may not be dating, and Zayn is surrounded by emotionally stunted idiots. He bears it with dignity.

End of the Day

If there’s something I’ve learnt from a million mistakesYou’re the one that I want at the end of the day

Relief Next To Me : AU. What happens when a baker and a graphic designer meet via a very specific Craigslist post? Fate, friendship, food, and maybe more.

If I Could Fly

I’ve got scars, even though they can’t always be seenAnd pain gets hard, but now you’re here and I don’t feel a thing

Butterfly Gun : Harry has never been much of a fighter, but—as always—where Louis Tomlinson is concerned, a lot of things stop being true.1940’s AU. Even after six years apart, they can’t forget their shared wartime childhood.

Long Way Down

I try to forgive you,But I struggle ‘cause I don’t know how

Wear It Like A Crown : AU. As part of a team of fixers hired to handle a gay scandal in Buckingham Palace, Louis expects Prince Harry to be a lot of things—most notably a royally spoilt brat. Never mind that the very same Prince Harry used to star in quite a number of Louis’ teenage fantasies.

Never Enough

I don’t need my loveYou can take it, you can take it, take it 

Hiding Place : Louis never wanted a soulmate, didn’t really care for the whole Bonding thing at all, really. Enter Harry Styles, who’s wanted to be Bonded for as long as he could remember. With one fateful meeting in an X Factor bathroom, Louis gets a dagger on his arm and the realization that just because Harry is his soulmate doesn’t mean it’s mutual.From the X Factor house to Madison Square Garden, from the Fountain Studios stage to stadiums across the world, Louis has to learn to love without losing himself completely, because someday his best friend will Bond to someone and replace Louis as the center of his universe. 

Olivia 

Just thinking how I went about it wrongThis isn’t the stain of a red wine, I’m bleeding love

Soft Hands, Fast Feet, Can’t Lose : American Uni AU. Harry Styles is a frat boy football star from the wealthy Styles Family athletic dynasty. A celebrity among football fans, he knows how to play, he knows how to party, and he knows how to fuck (all of which is well known among his legion of admirers).Louis Tomlinson is a student and an athlete, but his similarities to Harry end there. Intelligent, focused, independent, and completely uninterested in Harry’s charms, Louis is an anomaly in a world ruled by football. A bet about the pair, who might be more similar than they originally thought, brings them together. Shakespeare, ballet, Disney, football, library chats, running, accidental spooning, Daredevil and Domino’s Pizza all blend into one big friendship Frappucino, but who will win in the end?

What A Feeling

Everybody needs someone aroundBut I can’t hold you too close now

Where Your Heart Is : Louis is ready for his brand new adventure. So what if he suffers from a genetic condition that prevents him from being touched? College is going to be awesome. It has to. Karma kind of owes him right now. Forget about his overprotective mother, or Liam– his entirely too chipper step brother– or his mess of a roommate. Forget about the gloves he has to wear at all times. He’s here to expand his knowledge, write and drown himself in books – No matter how distracting ‘Hallway Boy’ may be– The obnoxious, flirty frat wannabe determined to become the bane of Louis’ existence.

Love You Goodbye

It’s inevitable everything that’s good comes to an endIt’s impossible to know if after this we can still be friends 

Pinkies Never Lie : AU in which Louis hates his job and loves Harry, Harry just wants a distraction, everyone else wants them to get their shit together, and Louis learns the hard way that new beginnings are only possible when something ends.

I Want to Write You a Song

Everything I need I get from youGivin’ back is all I wanna do

Wild and Unruly: Harry is a cowboy sitting on the biggest oil reservoir in Wyoming, and Louis is the paralegal assigned to pressure him into selling his land.

History

You and me got a whole lot of history So don’t let it go, we can make some more, we can live forever

Perfect Storm : What do you do when your best friend asks you and your (now) ex to be the best men at his destination wedding? You can either tell him the truth, tell him you’re not together anymore, and deal with the consequences, or you can pretend you’re still together and roll with it, just pray you don’t spiral. Fake it ‘til you make it. You know, for the sake of the wedding.Harry and Louis choose the latter.

#woooW that was a wild one #fic rec #asks

[canaryatlaw]

So today was pretty good! It seems as long as I can succeed in dragging my ass out of bed I'll actually feel good and have a positive day, as opposed to staying in bed all day and then ultimately feeling like crap. Who knew? Meh, probably most people. But today was good. I woke up to my alarm at 7 and debated for approximately 1 minute staying in bed with the excuse that I was still sick and it was very tempting, but I pushed through because NO I had to go to work, and so I did. I just don't want to get a reputation for being unreliable when I work so hard to get a reputation as being a hard worker. So to work I went. I had a few new assignments on my desk, including setting up a phone interview with a kid who's in a juvenile correctional facility somewhere downstate, so I called them and then was told I had to fax over an interview request with what time I wanted and what number to call. Okay, so I informed the attorney who gave me the assignment this, and she said to go ahead and type up an interview request and fax it over, and I was just like, so, I don't know how to work a fax machine....😂😂 it's not like I've never been in a situation before that required me to fax something, but I've never been in one that actually gave me access to a fax machine- because you can fax things over the Internet and I've always done that, lol. So the lawyer laughed and said I could ask the paralegal and he would show me. Okay, so I type it up all fancy and ask the paralegal, who takes me to the dinosaur of a fax machine they have and shows me how to work it, and I have to admit I was kind of fascinated by it. Like, you call a number basically and it transmits a paper message? That's kind of nuts, lol. So it took us 3 tries I think, but we got it to go through, so I was pleased with that. Then I left a message for a worker to call me back on another form I had to fill out. These events may be somewhat out of sequence, but sometime around then my supervisor asked if I wanted to go down for a benchmark hearing with her, which is basically just the client, who's over 18, sitting down with a judge and trying to basically get everything in place for them before they age out of the system at 21. It was pretty interesting, kid seems to be doing pretty well for himself, the judge seemed to think so. My supervisor was just like "yeah the only issue is he just smoked a ton of weed" but of course didn't say that to the judge haha but at that point I kind of laughed and was like, who doesn't at this point?? Lol. She had anther one a bit later so I went back to my office in the mean time. Then, for the first time since getting this office, my phone rings, and I go aha! My phone must be working right! So I answer it and no, it's the lady that's in charge of phones and voicemails and originally told me that the number listed on my phone might be the wrong number. So I go to her office and she hands me my voicemail info, including my extension, which is very clearly NOT the number written on the damn phone- the number that I had been giving out on every message I left people to call me back at and in the damn fax for them to call for the interview. Face palm. How the fuck was I supposed to know?? So I go inform the lawyers of this, and they thought it was hilarious haha and they figured they must've just taken the phone from another office and stuck it in there with the wrong extension. So this meant I had to type up another letter to send to juvie saying actually don't call that number call this number, then attempted to fax it over myself and I was successful in doing so, so I felt proud of myself for learning a new skill, lol. Around then I went down with my supervisor for the second benchmark, which we weren't terribly confident was actually going to happen. It was for the girl in the TLP placement we visited last week who had just gotten a new worker who started on Monday, and I called and left a message for about taking her to court on Wednesday, and she had several other ways to know she had to take her, but nope, didn't show. So we go down and talk to the court coordinator, apparently the worker that just quit had the benchmark the hour before who also didn't show so they kind of figured this would happen, but my attorney called and confirmed she was in her placement, and was told they "thought it got moved to another day." So she wasn't terribly satisfied with that answer and filed a motion to compel, which is basically just a way of being like "you're not doing your job so here's a court order ordering you to do your job or be held in contempt" so we got another date and hopefully this time they'll bring her. Went back upstairs, and I took a lunch break around then, then after lunch called back the other person I left a message for and they picked up this time and were like "oh I'm so sorry I didn't get to call you back yet" and I was like "oh no that's okay I'm just calling because I left you the wrong number to call back" 😂😂 so at least it was comical. I knew during the afternoon the office had an ICWA training all the attys had to go to (legal vocabulary review: if you were around for last year you may remember ICWA- the Indian child welfare act- being the subject of my second semester legal writing trial brief, so I actually know quite a bit about the subject. And yes, Indian is the legal term used.) but I didn't have to go since I'm not an atty of course, and apparently it was about a bunch of new rules for it and it didn't sound particularly interesting, so while everyone was at that (everyone except for our courtroom, but more on that later) I finished up the TPR prep I've been working on for the last few weeks, and ended up making everything in chronological order so there was a nice neat timeline even though the documents definitely weren't in chronological order at all, but it's just so much nicer than that, and I try to be impressive. But yeah, then suddenly I was out of work, and there wasn't a damn attorney in the entire office to go to for work. Lol, whoops. I had read fic through lunch so I went to play candy crush for a while just for a bit of a brain relaxer, and at some point spoke with the paralegal about possibly waiting with a kid who was supposed to come to our office while he was in a phone staffing, but the kid never showed- this is the case from Monday and the reason the lawyer across from me was down in court instead of in the training. So, quick refresher, kid got placed with mom on an emergency basis after originally being removed (but not made a ward of the court and actually taken into care) because she could never get him to school on time. Well, guess where else she can't get him on time???? COURT. They didn't end up showing, at all, lol, and everyone else did- dad, grandma, who was now taking out her anger on dad's attorney and apparently they had to call in an extra sheriff to make sure nothing went awry in their little conference room 😂😂😂 bitches be crazy man. And I'm just like, has mom even got the kid to school on time in the last two days? And the lawyers like nah probably not. Like damn lady, I don't understand what's going on here lol. So kid is still placed with mom and they vacated the order without prejudice, waiting to have a full hearing on it on another day when mom can actually be there. It's just an interesting legal conundrum because at trial the judge specifically listed the failure to get the kids to school on time as the neglect factors, but now we're consenting to place the kid back with mom while the problem hasn't been rectified- because it's probably in the best interest of the child, rather than pulling him into foster care. It sounds like a hypothetical one of my profs would come up with, and I'm not sure if there's a right answer really, but that's what it was for today anyway. My supervisor returned to the office and gave me some work for tomorrow because she's gonna be out on visits for a while. Headed out right at 5, and actually got to talk to one of the new law clerks. They all started Monday, there's like 6 of them haha but I didn't have to go through orientation or anything obviously so I don't know any of them yet. Got on the bus and made it home by 6:30, made oatmeal for dinner and tried to make hard boiled eggs in my rapid egg cooker but the little pin you're supposed to use to poke a whole in the egg actually cracked the entire egg open on me, then in the process the other one fell on the floor and cracked open, and I only had one egg left in the fridge, so I just kind of abandoned that idea and got ready to watch the Arrow finale. I didn't really have too many expectations going in being that I don't feel terribly invested in this season at all, or most of the characters at this point, but Nyssa was gonna be in the episode and so was black siren so that was enough to peak my interest. I was back on the showgo app and live tweeting from there because Katrina Law was watching with us on there, and she replied to several of my posts which was amusing. The episode itself was pretty good I guess, good fight scenes and god I hope Malcolm is really dead because I'm so fucking read for that SOB to die already. The Nyssa vs. Talia showdown was way too short IMO, but of course there was no doubt that Nyssa was gonna come out on top, though I wasn't sure if she was actually going to kill her sister, but apparently she was going there (I'm also amused at how the neck twist has become the easy kill on this show in just about all situations). I didn't doubt Slade's allegiance to Oliver for a second, I knew he was going along with him and they had a plan. I'm sad we didn't get to see more of black siren, though her small showdown with "Dinah" was cool to see at least. I mean, I was generally rooting for team arrow, but in that specific fight between the two of them, I was definitely rooting for black siren. It's always been very obvious to me that one way or another Chase wasn't coming out of this alive, I mean the guy is clearly suicidal AF and really just wanted Oliver to kill him. I have to say, plugging the entire damn island with C-4 set to go off when he died was a pretty brilliant plan though. It wasn't really feeling all the dramatic moments of Oliver's selective moral superiority and being like "no I'm different now" because I refuse to kill this one person when you've killed how many people this season Oliver??? Pffffft. I knew he was gonna have to get create if he actually wanted Chase to tell him where William was, because clearly fighting him wasn't working, so I was glad when he finally showed up. I wasn't terribly concerned about that little move he had where it was gonna be "William or everyone else" because I was like meh Oliver is obviously gonna get out of it and he did, then there's just poor fucking William and he's probably so damn confused like what the hell is going on the green arrow is my dad and what??????? Lol, poor kid. But then of course Chase goes and shoots himself, because like I said he was one suicidal SOB, and it ends with Lian-Yu blowing up (which to that particular action I was like, about time man) but like, that's not even a good cliffhanger because we know they're not gonna kill off their entire damn cast????? Like obviously they're going to have a way to survive it, so I'm not concerned about that like, at all. I wasn't feeling the Oliver/Moira call all that much, like I was feeling it for Moira because I can imagine what she was feeling but for Oliver I was like, dude, you really could've done this at any point in the past 3 seasons and you didn't, so I don't have much sympathy for you. But yeah, then it was over and it's only 8 pm, lol, so I hop over to Hulu to watch the new episode of The Handmaid's Tale, which I actually liked a lot, mostly because it was focused pretty much entirely on Luke and I found that a lot more compelling really, so I'm very interested to see what the resistance is doing and how that's gonna effect the story. Then I finished the last episode of season 3 of Kimmy Schmidt, which was pretty good. Her arc kind of felt like a repeat of the first two seasons except this time it was college, but it was still mostly enjoyable. I feel like Titus only ever gets half an arc, like I always feel like he ends up unfinished. So when I finished that I was trying to figure out what to watch, and I decided to go for the new show that just popped up on Netflix and caught my eye called The Keepers, which is a true crime documentary series about the murder of a nun, and the tag line said something about it happening after she confronted a priest about a sex abuse scandal, so that peaked my interest. So I watched the first episode, and I was probably distracted but I wasn't really that into it, but I get that the first episode necessarily has to be mostly exposition to set up the rest of the season, so they mostly just had to get the facts out. So I'll keep watching for now at least. And yeah, that was pretty much my day. Not bad, I'd say. Hopefully tomorrow will be the same. The calendar is ordering lunch for everybody because it's one of the attorney's birthday, so that should be fun. And I have PT at night but it's not till 7, which means I don't have to take an expensive and rushed uber ride home to make it, so that makes me feel better. Okay, enough blabbing, it's already late and I should get to bed now. Goodnight my lovelies. Happy being 3/5ths through with the week.

#daily journal #May 2017 #I feel like this month has lasted forever

[lyinginthedark]

Must-Read Larry Fics

It’s come to my attention that certain people I know have not read some of these, so I am compiling a list of my Must-Read Larry Fics for your reading pleasure.

1. Relief Next To Me by Dolce_Piccante 

AU. What happens when a baker and a graphic designer meet via a very specific Craigslist post? Fate, friendship, food, and maybe more.

2. Young & Beauitful by Velvetoscar

Louis, to his horror, attends an elitist university in which the name Zayn Malik means something, Niall Horan doesn't stop talking, there are pianos everywhere, and Harry Styles, only son of a drug-addled, clinically insane ex-rocker, has a perfect smile and empty eyes.

3. And Then A Bit by Infinitelymint 

“We’d like to give the fans what they want.” Magee states, placing his hand on the table in front of him and leaning forward. “We want to give them Larry Stylinson.”

Or, take a parallel universe where Louis and Harry were never together, mix in a two year hiatus and an impending comeback, pour in a dash of lost fans, two tablespoons of strong friendship and a Modest! employee with a good idea. Add a squeeze of pretending to be a couple, lots of kisses and a tattoo or two. Stir. Serve: the mother of all publicity stunts.

(aka Harry and Louis fake a relationship for publicity. Eventually it becomes a lot less fake and a lot more real.)

4. Nothing Else But Us Right Here by Supernope

Louis sighs and gives himself a mental pep talk as he smooths his jumper down over his hips. He can do this. He can resist the draw of Harry Styles, because he is a responsible, mature adult, and as much as he wants to tangle his fingers in that mess of hair and map those ridiculous tattoos with his tongue, he does not want to get his daughter’s favorite teacher fired.

5. Wild and Unruly by 100percentsassy and Gloria_andrews

Harry is a cowboy sitting on the biggest oil reservoir in Wyoming, and Louis is the paralegal assigned to pressure him into selling his land.

6. Led By Your Beating Heart by Missandrogyny 

Nick leans over. "Oh," he says, his voice smug. "Who is that?"

Harry just blinks at his phone. "Um," he manages to stammer out.

"Who's that, Harry?" Nick asks again, but this time he raises his eyebrows and smirks. Harry knows Nick is just teasing, and that he's not really looking for new Harry Styles gossip, but, um. He might have found something. Accidentally.

Harry opens his mouth to speak, but all that comes out is another 'um'. He really needs to work on translating his thoughts into words. But then it probably wouldn't be any helpful right now, would it? His mind is as blank as a newly erased etch-a-sketch.

"Oh," Nick says again, this time gleefully, seemingly having picked up on Harry's distress. "Looks like we've got a story here! Are you going to call or delete her number?"

Her number. So Nick thinks it's a girl. Well, Harry can't blame him: 'Lou' is kind of an androgynous nickname. His stylist's name is Lou.

But this Lou, well, Louis, he's kind of, really, really not a girl. He's really pretty though, which, is something.

(Or: AU where Harry's in One Direction, Louis isn't, and they reconnect over a game of 'Call or Delete'.)

7. Have You Coming Back Again by Whoknows

It’s five o’clock in the morning. Louis has a lecture at half eight. He could be using this time to study or to do his readings or to go to the gym, but - well. He doesn’t have any exams coming up, he’s not going to his seminar today anyway and he hates the gym.

Instead he’s using this time to fuck with Harry Styles’ poor little brain.

Louis jogs across the street and jabs the key into the car door. It opens easily, not that he was expecting anything else. He copied the key for a reason, after all.

He’s got Harry’s schedule memorized, more because the guy keeps following him around than anything, so he doesn’t bother looking around before climbing behind the wheel and setting his bag on the passenger seat. It’s a Monday, which means that Harry doesn’t even get out of bed before noon unless he’s planning on harassing Louis.

8. Let Me Make A Thing Of Cream And Stars by Miss androgyny 

It doesn't explain why he's lying on the floor, with Harry Styles, of all people, planking on top of him.

As in, seventeenth most influential person in London, pop-star-turned-rock-star Harry Styles. The same Harry Styles who has had countless model girlfriends, left, right and centre. Also the same Harry Styles who has been the subject of Louis' wet dreams since he was about eighteen.

(Or: Louis is a Radio 1 DJ and Harry is a pop-star he interviews.)

9. Let’s Talk About Making Love by istajmaal 

That’s my name, baby, I’m Louis.” The voice on the phone inhales sharply, then says, “Gonna take my cock now, princess?”

Harry lets out a high-pitched mhmm and shudders as he pulls his fingers out of his hole, groping for the vibrator. “Nice to meet you,” he says, feeling a bit dizzy with how hard his untouched cock is.

Louis is just a simple phone sex line operator, but to Harry, he's Daddy.

10. Give Me Truths by Iwillpaingasongforlou

'Just like a little cat,' Louis thought later, as he drifted off to sleep. 'A little kitten with his claws sunk right into me.' It isn’t that terrible of a thought, after all. ............. Louis is a psychology student with a tattoo count as high as his genius IQ. Harry is in a (sort-of) relationship with a homophobic man and hates himself a little more every day. Things fall apart and Louis puts him back together.

Or, the one in which Louis falls in love with a fragile boy and tells him every beautiful truth in the world, as long as it makes him happy.

11. Put It All On Me by Loadedgun

"Yeah, yeah, give it to me, that's it, spread your legs a bit, there you go."

The camera follows Louis as he does. Maybe if the modelling thing doesn't work out, he could try the porn industry. Then again, he's a bit too stocky to be twinky and a bit too twinky to be anything else. He likes that about himself, though. Well, directors and photographers like that about him. He could pull off pretty and edgy, could do GQ in the morning and a perfume commercial in the afternoon. Right now he thinks he could pull off anything, because it's Harry fucking Styles directing him.

Or, a Top Model AU where Louis is accidentally there to make friends, not become Britain's Next Top Model. (Also Zayn is the supermodel host.)

12. Want You More Than A by Thecellardoor

Falling in love with your step-brother’s best friend is a disaster enough. When he happens to be the boy everyone loves and you’re a nerd who wears sweater vests and cries during rom-coms, it takes it to a whole new level.

13. Loving You Is Free by Littlelouishiccups

Louis is a workaholic record label CEO who hasn't been on a date in nearly a year. Niall and Liam make an account for him on a sugar dating website as a joke. And then Louis meets Harry.

14. Always Come Back To You by Whoknows

“I’ll do it,” Harry offers brightly. No one even blinks. “I’ll do it?”

Louis sighs irritably. “Shut up,” he orders, tossing a pillow in the general direction of Harry’s face. This is a terrible time for jokes, especially Harry’s lame, old people ones.

Not that it was an old people joke. Just that most of the time Harry’s jokes consist of knock-knocks or terrible puns. The type of jokes old people like, Louis’ pretty sure. His nan always finds them hilarious when Harry tells her one.

Harry bats the pillow out of the air without even blinking. “Be reasonable, Lou,” he says in his most reasonable voice.

Louis is perfectly reasonable, thank you very much, and he’s also frustrated and upset and tired and he really wants to punch something. Maybe he should have held on to that pillow a little longer.

“You’re not gonna fucking do it,” he snaps. “That’s the last thing I need.”

15. Speaking Of Marvels by Navigator and Quitter

AU. Louis is a nanny in suburban New Jersey, and the neighbors' son is home from college for the summer. It was supposed to be a fling.

---

Okay, this is getting long af so I’ll leave it there BUT THERE ARE SO MANY MORE!!! READ READ READ!! I MEAN IT!

#Larry Stylinson #one direction #harry styles #louis tomlinson #fanfiction #fandom #fanfic #rec #fic rec #need to read these if you haven't already #adihihrgtj svsdvuwhg #i mean it! #do it #niall horan #liam payne #zayn malik #ziam mayne #niam

[jimlingss]

Jungle Park [11]

Chapter 10 - Chapter 11 - Chapter 11.5 OR Chapter 12

➜ Words: 7.7k

➜ Genres: Fluff, Light Humour (?), Slice of Life, Workplace Romance!AU

➜ Summary: The equation is simple. Hoseok needs to hire someone. You need a job. Except like any actual equation, it’s not fucking simple at all! Not when you have to add the fact that he was forced to hire someone he doesn’t want in his office, he has little respect for your job in general, and oh yeah...once upon a time you might have—*CENSORED*.

The sound of wheels rolling over the ridges of tile follow with the parade of steps. You grip onto the handle of your luggage, dragging it behind you as you follow the signs to the gate. It’s bustling, crowds shuffling together, trying to get to their destinations whether it’s a vacation spot or to home. There are children chasing after parents or running off, couples holding hands to their honeymoons, businessmen and women adjusting their ties as they go off to their business trips.   But never once is it suffocating. It’s spacious with modern architecture, plenty of light coming through the large windows that allows you to see white aircrafts parked right outside and those descending onto the runway. The intercom blares above you every so often, giving last calls for boarding flights. Thankfully, you don’t hear any calls for your own flight and you make it to the gate right on time.   “Was everything alright?” Sunyi asks as you appear, joining the group. “Security took a while for you.”   “Yeah, it was nothing.” You look around to see if you missed anything, but Yoongi is texting on his phone, Seulgi is at the gift shop, and Hoseok is preoccupied on his laptop, typing away. There’s nothing out of the ordinary.   “Jungkook’s in the washroom and Jimin went to get coffee or something. We’re boarding in about fifteen minutes.”   “Sounds good.” You sit down with her, settling in your seats and preparing for a three hour long flight. “Is there anything I should know?”   “Not really. It’s just a conference on child welfare. So just sit and listen to presenters, and eat free food and mingle and network.” The lawyer softly smiles and sighs. “It’s actually kind of boring.”   You nod, still unable to dispel your anxiousness away, curious as to what will happen and worried that you’re not prepared. “I’ve never been to anything like this before.”   “There’s nothing too difficult, don’t worry.” She leans closer, dropping the volume of her voice. “If there was, I wouldn’t go. Neither would Seulgi.” Sunyi’s not wrong, especially considering that Seulgi isn’t a lawyer and is a paralegal, but personally volunteered to help take notes and be everyone’s assistant.   You weren’t supposed to come either. It was only a three day conference business trip, but Naul couldn’t make it because her son was in town and Taehyung had to stay back since he had already booked appointments with his client, so you took the invitation. And here you are, sitting at the gate before lining up to get onto your flight.   Jimin sips on his coffee, staring at the ticket in his hand before he leans over to glance at yours. Slowly, the line was shuffling forward, all those in business class coming after first. “I think our seats are switched,” he tells you. “They must’ve had an issue with printing. You’re sitting with Hoseok now. Do you wanna switch back?”   “I..uhh…” Right as you’re about to speak, you notice Hoseok glancing up from his phone screen, giving you the briefest of peeks. You don’t want to give the wrong impression and you respond with, “It’s fine.”   The lawyer nods and chimes out, “Then I get to sit next to Jungkookie~”   Said student lawyer appears disappointed, doe eyes becoming puppy-like, mouth drawing downwards and you plop a hand on his shoulder to appease him while promising, “I’ll sit with you on the way back.”   His cute smile returns instantly. “Okay!”   Sunyi lifts her hand next to her head like she’s waiting to be called on. “Can we switch too? I don’t want to sit next to him.” Her thumb hitches towards Yoongi who seems even more exhausted, eye bags going to his knees.   “Can I get some aspirin? She’s giving me a migraine.”   “No,” Jimin shoots down the plea. “That’s too much of a hassle. Just keep things the way they are. You guys need to learn how to cooperate with each other anyway.”   “But—”   “Don’t argue with each other,” you step in to reprimand and then you turn to Sunyi, reminding her of the technique that you both established many complaint sessions ago. “Deep breaths.”   She doesn’t seem amused.   The line up doesn’t take long and by the next few minutes, your ticket is scanned, passport glanced at, and you’re on your way inside the plane. The two pilots greet you, the pretty head stewardess that seems to glare at the female pilot for some unknown reason, and you make your way down the narrow aisle towards business class. Your seat and Hoseok’s are the first ones, extra leg room when there are no seats in front and just a plain wall with tiny televisions.   Hoseok helps lift your luggage into the overhead bin without you needing to ask and he offers the window seat which you take to spare the debate and argument. “Are you still working?” you ask him in disbelief and awe when he pulls his laptop out.   “Just getting as much done as possible,” he mutters, eyes trained on the document and you don’t bother him further. Instead, you watch the other passengers shuffle their way through the aircraft, energetic children and cooing babies to the elderly holding onto seats as they pass.   Jimin and Jungkook a few seats down appear like they’re getting along, but Yoongi and Sunyi who are behind them not so much. They have enough dignity to not rip each other’s heads apart in public, so you’re not too concerned. From across the aisle, Seulgi has her own seat next to a handsome stranger and she shoots you a wink before returning to the conversation with her new friend.   You also look out the window, watching as air traffic control brings luggage on the plane and checks around the craft. With the white noise and low stimulation, you become increasingly drowsy. Your lids become heavy, vision hazing over, mind blank, and you’re about to fall asleep, except your lull is interrupted when Hoseok finally shuts the lid of his laptop and stuffs it into his bag.   He glances at you. “Comfortable?”   “Very.” You inhale a deep breath, body relaxing even more. “I don’t think I’ve ever been in business class before.”   He hums. “It’s better than economy, that’s for sure.”   Hoseok moves to push the buttons on the monitor in front of him while you keep one eye open, leaning back in your comfortable seat, watching him browse the entertainment selection. “Are you going to watch a movie?”   “Maybe. I’ll probably do more work after take-off, but I want to see what they have.”   “Why are you on the thriller and horror section?” A sleepy smile pulls into your cheeks and you know that looking at the movie poster and reading the title is enough to make him scared. “Comedy’s to your left. Right there.”   He presses on it and shifts in the seat. “How did you know I like comedy?”   You shrug, too drowsy to find some kind of explanation. “I know a lot of things about you.”   A snort of air leaves his nose. “Is this a confession from a stalker?”   You laugh as he returns to browsing and your lids become heavier and heavier against your will, even when you’re fighting to stay conscious. “You wish….”   “Hmm, this looks good.” He’s chosen a romantic comedy that’s at the top of the selection and skims the description. It’s an older one called ‘When Spring Meets Autumn’ and he recognizes a person on the cast list, a fairly famous actress that also happens to be his secret celebrity crush. “Has decent ratings.”   “We already watched that,” you mumble, recognizing the movie.   His brow lifts and his neck cranes towards you, expression incredulous. “We did?”   “Yeah, in theater,” you hum underneath your breath and if he wasn’t right next to you, he wouldn’t be able to hear. “It was really bad.”   It’s quiet. The white noise drowns into the back. For an extended moment, his breath hitches in his throat and he doesn’t make a single sound. Eventually, the intercom flares to life above him, the pilot greeting the passengers and the flight attendants make their rounds to check trays and overhead bins. As they do the safety demonstration, Hoseok finally returns to his senses and turns back to you in a gentle whisper—   “Y/N?”   But then your head slumps on his shoulder and you don’t make a single movement. He can’t help but stare down at you, how peaceful your features have become, without the frown or the expressions of fear or surprise. From the proximity, he can see each of your lashes, the dip of your cupid’s bow, the rise and fall of your chest. He traces his eyes against the slope of your nose and he lets you sleep. You seemed tired these days and he didn’t want to stir you awake.   “Excuse me.” He lifts his free hand slightly when an attendant brushes past. “Can I get a blanket?”   “Certainly.”   Hoseok adjusts the arm rest, putting it up so the metal isn’t digging into your ribs. Thankfully, you’re both already seat belted in and he just has to take the blanket the attendant gives him and drape it over your body. He secures the warm wool up to your shoulders and carefully reaches up, turning off the air conditioning above him and pulling down the cover of the window.   Takeoff is smooth and when it’s over, he reclines both your seats back. You still use his shoulder as a pillow, cheek smushed on top of his sweater — though Hoseok doesn’t mind too much, even smiling after a second of staring. He doesn’t pull out his laptop or phone to work, fearing that too much movement would wake you up. Instead, his arm extends, finger pressing on the movie that you watched with him…..   The movie he doesn’t remember.   You’re right. It’s bad. The actress that he likes gets killed off in the first ten minutes in some stupid car accident. Jung Hoseok can’t even finish the darn thing as his lids become heavier and heavier. Against his will, he dozes off too, head resting on top of yours.   Your hands nearly brush one another.   //   The landing of the plane, getting your baggage from the overhead bin, bidding the pilots goodbye, cutting straight through baggage claim to grab a cab is all a blur. The world seems to be moving faster than you and you’re left dazed, dragging your body along as your mind is left behind. The seduction of sleep is still lingering and you’re not sure if you’re dreaming or not. It isn’t a surprise considering how you were completely knocked out during the entire flight.   Hoseok is in a similar sleepy state, being oddly quiet and rubbing his eyes every so often as if he can dispel the drowsiness away. You wonder if he fell asleep too.   In the meanwhile, Seulgi is super excited about arriving, as is Jimin who insists a sight seeing event is crucial. Yoongi and Sunyi are busy bickering about who took up more space on the plane and how they couldn’t even get a wink of sleep while Jungkook discusses the movie he watched and how great it was.   Once you’ve arrived at the hotel, everyone makes their way to the front desk to grab their key cards. There were three rooms booked in total, Hoseok and Yoongi rooming together, Jimin sharing with Jungkook while you, Sunyi, and Seulgi shared another. You’re more than happy with the arrangement considering that you’ve always liked the two girls and your desire to get closer to them was flaming.   “Did you end up getting that stranger’s phone number?” you ask Seulgi and her hand goes into her pocket, two fingers taking out a slip of folded paper.   She throws her hair behind her shoulder and gives a cocky smirk. “Right here.”   “Wait.” Sunyi swipes the card at the door and takes off her shoes as she enters. “Who?”   “Seulgi sat next to one hell of a handsome stranger on the plane.”   The lawyer groans in jealousy and sets down her luggage while you also slip off your boots. “You’re so lucky. I had to sit next to Min the entire time. Wanted to blow my brains out.”   “He isn’t so bad,” the paralegal comforts her.   “He’s an ass,” she counters.   Seulgi shrugs. “Still better than sitting next to Hoseok.”   “Right.” The lawyer remembers and as if to share her sympathies, she turns to you with a sorrowful expression. “I’m so sorry, Y/N.”   “Did he nag you the entire trip?”   “No. He’s actually not that bad, you guys,” you murmur in discomfort, trying to keep it positive. They’re entirely mistaken about their boss and you don’t know how to explain yourself or defend him. “Hoseok’s nice.”   Sunyi hangs her head and the corners of her lips quirk. “He’s not here right now, you don’t have to pretend.”   Before your mouth can even part and you can say something in return, Seulgi pushes her way out of the foyer of the hotel room and enters with a gasp. “Oh my god, this is so beautiful.” The two of you follow after her, eyes scanning the modern aesthetics of the room, the small kitchen, the open living room, and the bedroom with two impressive queen beds side by side.   “I’m sharing with Y/N.” Seulgi grabs your arm, hugging it, and she tells Sunyi, “You can have that one bed to yourself.”   “What?” The woman narrows her eyes, having thought that they’d be fighting for the empty bed. It’s suspicious for her to offer like that. “Why?”   She shrugs with a pout. “I sleep in my own bed every night. It gets lonely. While I have the chance, I’d like to fill the empty side with cute Y/N.”   Sunyi’s brows raise and you wonder if this is reverse psychology or if she’s being genuine. Either way, she’s either a genius or super sweet. It’s a win-win situation. And the lawyer takes the bait with her hands on her hips. “Okay, no. I call sharing the bed with Y/N.”   You laugh, having never been fought over before. “Who said I want to share with any of you?”   In the end, you get the empty bed and they get to share.   //   It doesn’t take long to get settled in, change clothes and get comfortable. Everyone washes up before getting back to the internet after being absent for so long and you also take the opportunity to stare at the city view for a while until your eyes are satisfied. But it’s not long before there’s three rapid knocks on the front door and the bell ringing throughout the room.   You open it, finding Yoongi on the other side in a plaid flannel and wearing a reserved smile that you return. “Hey, where’s Sunyi?”   “I think she’s in the bathroom.” You lean back, shouting her name and telling her there’s someone at the door.   “Oh no, it’s fine,” he says a bit too late while scratching the back of his neck. His voice remains low and raspy. “Just wanted to let you girls know we’re thinking of going out to dinner.”   “What.” Sunyi leaves the bathroom and stops in her tracks when she sees who’s standing by the doorway. Her expression falls and her eyes become dead. “Oh. It’s you.”   Yoongi grins. “It’s me. Get dressed.” His eyes skim down her frame, obviously judging at her choice in attire, oversized hoodie and sweatpants. “We’re all going out for dinner.”   “I thought we were getting room service,” Seulgi comments as she pops her head from the other room.   “Nah. Hoseok and Jimin changed their minds,” he says and Sunyi nods, grabbing her flats to slip into. His brow lifts. “Wait. Are you really going to go out wearing that?”   “Okay, fuck off. Is there a dress code for this too?”   The lawyer lifts up his hands, palms facing out like he’s being arrested. “Hey, I never said it was bad. Just looks like your pajamas.”   “Yoongi, eat a—”   You clear your throat and the hostile environment is brought down at once. Sunyi’s choice of comfortable attire causes a train reaction and everyone ends up in clothes that reminds them of a time when they were in university preparing for finals. And while walking on the sidewalks of the unfamiliar city with the rest of them, you really are brought back to the carefree years of uni.   “Where are we eating?” Jimin asks, twirling around to address the group.   Seulgi pipes up in surprise, “I thought you guys decided.”   “No.” He matches her frown. “We didn’t.”   “Okay.” Yoongi takes a deep breath. “So where are we walking off to?”   Everyone looks at each other. There’s a long silence.   Sunyi whirls her head over. “I was following Jungkook.”   The boy’s shoulders are tense and he looks like a toddler who got into the cookie jar. “I was following Yoongi.”   “I was following Jimin.”   “I was sightseeing,” he responds with a shrug.   “Oh my god.” It’s a bit humorous when a swarm of intellectuals with fancy degrees on their belts and years of working experiences on their shoulders find themselves completely and utterly lost.   It’s a bit of a pathetic sight when all of you pull out your phones, pulling up GPS and doing google searches to find out where you are and the nearest place to get food in your systems. Indeed, it was reminding you more and more of your university years...especially when you end up in a McDonald’s.   There’s a sea of complaints, but everyone’s too tired to keep walking and too hungry to waste time filing in a taxi, navigating the streets, and waiting for food. Plus, everybody is in their sweats and going into a proper restaurant would garner nothing but odd glares and odd looks.   Jungkook and Jimin make a ginormous order for the entire group and Hoseok says it’s his treat since it’s not that expensive anyways. You grab a long table in the corner, finding it funny how a high end law firm has swarmed into an empty McDonald's at nine at night. It’s not high end or modern, but cozy and intimate, and you like it that way.   “They didn’t have it.” Jimin sets down the tray and everyone begins dividing the food up.   Hoseok glances up at him. “Didn’t have what?”   “Hulk.” He plops down into the booth seat with a long sigh. But Jungkook looks worse for wear, pouting with his bottom lips slightly jutted out, doe eyes glossed over like a child sulking. As if trying to explain why he looks that way, Jimin continues, “Didn’t have Iron Man either.”   “Do you guys seriously collect those superhero toys?” Sunyi asks and Jimin gasps while Jungkook makes the most offended expression of all. It’s amusing to see the usually timid boy act so passionately in anger towards his senior. “Hey! I’m not judging, I think it’s cute.”   “Didn’t you collect rocks as a kid?” Yoongi’s brow shoots up, clearing his throat.   “Yeah. So what?”   “Isn’t it kind of pathetic to have a pet rock? Couldn’t get any real friends, Lee?”   Her eyes narrow onto his smirking face. “At least I have friends now, you son of a bi—”   “Can we have one meal in peace?!” Jimin interrupts their argument and they immediately shut up while everyone around the table releases a snort through their nose, continuing to eat. Instead of stepping in like usual, Jimin takes control of the situation this time around to give you a break and he scolds the two lawyers for always making it about themselves. He nags their ears off, and in the midst of the chaos, you turn to Hoseok who’s sitting beside you in curiosity.   “Do you still collect those bear figurines?”   The lawyer blinks at you. He’s in a simple black hoodie and white tee, dark jeans that are ripped at the knees, and if you didn’t think too much, you’d get whiplash from the nostalgia of a decade ago. “Y-yeah...I do.”   “What?” Yoongi from across the table intervenes in your private conversation, doing anything it takes to shut Jimin’s mouth.   “I collect those bear figurines,” he explains while the group listens. “The brick ones?”   “Oh, those.” His friend nods. “I have a few of them too.”   “I’m surprised,” Sunyi comments and swallows down her mouthful of food before speaking again towards her boss. “I thought you would collect books or something like that.”   Hoseok frowns, finding such an idea strange. “No, I don’t really collect books. I think Namjoon does.” As you sit quietly and observe the interaction, you muse how sad it is that his employees don’t know a single thing about him. It’s especially heartbreaking since they’re pretty much the only people he interacts with and you know how much he cares for them.   “I would’ve thought you collected spiders,” Jungkook mutters out of nowhere and you can sort of trace his thought process since Hoseok does come across as intimidating.   But the mere idea of it has you bursting out laughing. Jimin’s also smiling, but everyone turns to look at you like you’ve gone crazy. “God, he would never collect spiders. Hoseok’s scared of anything with more than four legs. He’s scared of anything with wings. He’s scared of all bugs and tarantulas and—”   “That’s enough.” His lips are sealed, though the corners are pulling and he pushes french fries in front of your face, stuffing your mouth with them as you giggle and he laughs. The two of you don’t notice how everyone’s staring with slight frowns, surprised at how close you both seem.   “I never knew that,” Sunyi murmurs in slight astonishment. “I thought Jin was the only one in the office scared of bugs.”   “I scared him once with a ladybug.” Jungkook has a shit eating grin and he laughs cheekily. “He was screaming so much.”   “Yeah, and it accidentally made him spill coffee all over me.” Seulgi dips a french fry into ketchup, grimacing at the memory before a thought passes through her mind and a feeling akin to missing her chaotic coworkers nudges her. “What do you think the others are doing?”   Jimin bites into his burger. “Others?”   “At the firm,” she clarifies.   “Probably home by now,” Yoongi says after glancing at the time.   Jimin laughs and nudges his partner. “I wonder if Taehyung and Seokjin stole our offices.”   At the reminder of her two colleagues, Sunyi leans back in her seat. She takes a sip of her soft drink and hums. “Thank god they didn’t come. They’d be a headache.”   “They don’t act their age,” Seulgi further disses them and the lawyer agrees.   “Sometimes I wonder how Taehyung made it through law school.”   Jungkook giggles, bunny teeth exposed in his cute grin. There’s a mischievous glint in his eyes as he talks trash about his mentor, a once in a lifetime opportunity. “It’s a miracle.”   “But whether we like to admit it or not, they’re entertaining,” you add mid-chew, trying to chase away the gossiping behaviour. You know it’s in all good fun, no one meaning any harm, and the insults are more playful banters. But you’re still striving to create a more friendly environment. That and you know you’re right. “They’re fun.”   A few of them agree, but then Hoseok scoffs. “We can have fun too.”   “I don’t know,” you tease with an expanding smile. Your pupils glance at each person around the table who was just nagging how the others don’t act their age and they’re too loud. “We sound pretty old, don’t we?”   And that’s how the entire group ends up at some hip club.   The music is blaring, strobe lights flashing, burning the back of your eyeballs and nearly making you go into a seizure. All of you are dressed in rags compared to everyone else in tight shirts or sparkling dresses. You only managed to get in after the guys had pushed you, Sunyi, and Seulgi in front of them. Apparently increasing the female count was the only important thing to the bouncer, regardless of your shabby attire.   But even when all of you fork over a hefty amount for some stale drink, you lean against the bar and stare out at the dance floor in distaste.   “Why did we think this was a good idea?” Seulgi asks and no one has an answer.   Yoongi sighs and takes another sip of his whiskey. “I feel too old for this.”   Jungkook’s eyes stray off and he catches a couple in the corner, a male younger than he is slipping his hand up the girl’s skirt while her head is thrown back. His face scrunches in disgust and he looks as if he ate an entire lemon. “This is kind of gross….”   “The drinks are overpriced,” Hoseok comments after doing a few calculations in his head, knowing full well he could get more bang for his buck if bought an entire bottle himself.   “They’re all a bunch of babies grinding on each other.” Sunyi shudders, unable to imagine joining the dance floor to be pushed up against children who have barely become legal. She’s a professional for god sakes, not some rebellious young adult. The music was also horrendous with a beat that she can’t find the rhythm to. The music was bad, the drinks were bad….   “Maybe we really are old,” you admit with a smile, trying to uplift them a bit more.   “Don’t be such party poopers, guys!” Jimin spins around in his stool, lifting his arm to call the bartender towards him. “Times like these I miss Jin and Taehyung. Come on, I’ll pay for all your drinks, let’s enjoy ourselves!”   Park Jimin is the only one who’s lost his sensibility and tries to retain onto his lost youth, and act like he isn’t already a stable businessman who owns his own divorce law firm in the sea of struggling students and wasted young adults. Still, no one minds the place or the time when it’s free drinks.   Jimin orders a round of shots and there’s some kind of drinking game that takes place before everyone just downs the little glass they were given. In between working at the office and driving a cab at night, there’s not many opportunities to drink, so your drinking tolerance is naturally lower than the others. But when you turn beside you, you burst into another fit of giggles.   “What?” Hoseok stares at you, his lips parting into a heart shaped grin when he watches you laugh.   “I forgot you can’t drink at all.” You point. One shot in and he already looks like this. “Your entire face is already red!”   “I can drink fine!” he defends himself to no avail, voice moving up a higher pitch that you can hear over the deafening music. The blue back light of the bar casts its shade onto his visage, painting his sun kissed skin in a cooler shade. Jung Hoseok should look excellent here — hot shot lawyer in a sleek suit, dark locks neatly styled in a comma hairstyle, silver watch on his wrist and one leg thrown over the other, holding a drink in hand while wearing a cocky expression.   But here he is instead, casual hoodie and jeans, tuft of hair ruffled like a cloud, cute cheeks puffed out and skin flushed pink, pouting at you like a baby. You wonder if the others see what you do. Maybe they wouldn’t be so afraid or mistaken of him if they got a close look or paid any attention. Or maybe the real problem is that you pay too much attention to him.   “No one’s going to carry you back when you fall asleep!”   “Who says I’m going to fall asleep?!”   You can’t resist the laughter that bubbles up your throat. “I know you’re a sleepy drunk!”   Hoseok’s mouth downturns, though he’s being nothing but cute towards you. “Says who?”   “Me!”   He scoffs, noticing another drink held in your hands. “And what kind of drunk are you?”   Your smile becomes more playful and you lean closer towards him, everyone else preoccupied in their conversations and no one noticing your private little bubble created in the chaotic nightclub in some unfamiliar city. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”   //   After that, everything becomes a blur.   The rest of the night melts together until all you hear is the music throbbing in your ears and skin vibrating from the drinks. The details become a mess inside your head. There are snapshots and handfuls of seconds that you recall — laughing, dancing, drinking, being brought to the cab, swaying in the hallway, collapsing on the bed.   It’s only when the bright sunshine pierces past the glass windows and stabs you through the slits of your eyes that you throw your body upwards, experiencing the worst of headaches and falling back onto the mattress. It takes one second, one deep breath before your eyes are shooting open immediately.   Right away, you turn beside you. No one.   Your hands touch your torso. Clothes still on.   And when you look to your left, the two ladies you’re rooming with are snoring side-by-side.   Thank god. You’ve watched enough rom coms and chick flicks to be afraid of drunkenly sleeping with someone you’re not supposed to. Even if you feel like absolute shit, at least you still have your dignity. Mostly. You don’t recall saying or doing anything inappropriate, never doing anything that would have the HR representatives of the world crying out in agony. And on the brighter side, you’re not the only one who’s suffering under a massive hangover.   “Oh god, I feel horrible,” Seulgi wails out while she hugs the toilet bowl in the bathroom, having just expelled her stomach.   Sunyi looks downright awful even if she didn’t need to throw up, and she’s mentally preparing herself to jump into a cold shower. “Well, we have a conference to go to in two hours.”   Everybody gathers in the lobby of the hotel in business attire. They’re dressed crisply, dress pants and shirts, pencil skirts and ironed blouses, leather shoes and kitten heels. It would look like a really cool advertisement if your faces were cut out. Each person is suffering in their own way, your dark circles that makeup can’t save, Jungkook who keeps yawning every other second, and Jimin who appears to be having it the hardest. The usual chirpy male stays quiet and you all grab breakfast to feel better.   “I remember why I don’t drink anymore,” Yoongi muses and runs a hand through his untamed hair that sticks up in all directions despite watering it down earlier.   It’s even more amusing that Hoseok is the only one who seems completely fine. Even when he was bright pink last night and the biggest lightweight of the group, he’s made a fine recovery. Compared to the rest of you, he’s trotting along like the ultimate happy ball of sunshine.   “I hate him even more,” Seulgi mutters in jealousy, glaring at him from afar and you hold back a laugh.   //   The conference hall is a fancy large room, a ceiling that would require three ladders to reach. There are rounded tables and chairs, placements already assigned through name tags, an open stage that’s currently playing music to fill the background. There aren’t just lawyers around, but also social workers and counselors as well. Despite the differences of occupations, people still shake hands and mingle with each other, networking and expanding their contacts.   You meet a few people here and there yourself, but for the most part, you hang at the back near the table of refreshments. There’s a cup of water permanently glued to your hand as you force yourself to keep hydrated and dispel the hangover away.   “These events can be so boring,” a raspy voice pipes up beside you, causing your body to turn. A man has a reserved smile, blonde hair pushed back, skin glowing and arms muscular even in a dark dress shirt. He’s familiar, but you’re not sure from where.   “Really? I don’t think it’s so bad.”   “It’s the people who make it better.” He smiles. “People like you.”   You shake his hand, mirroring the way his lips quirk upwards. “You don’t even know who I am.”   “But I can learn.” He’s smooth, flirting openly with you, and you’re absolutely flattered. You can’t remember the last time someone expressed interest in you — Seulgi’s teenage brother doesn’t count. “My name is Jackson.”   It rings a slight bell in the back of your mind, but you still can’t put your finger on it. “Y/N.”   “Beautiful name for a beautiful woman. What do you say? Would you like to grab dinner with me so we can learn about each other?”   “I….don’t know.” It’s been too long since you’ve been approached like this and you’ve forgotten protocol. Though you give a more mischievous smile, deciding to skirt around the idea. “How can I trust you?”   “Because I wouldn’t waste your precious time,” he states confidently, but still hesitates, not wanting to pressure you into anything. The man digs into his suit pocket. “Then at least take my phone number. In case you change your mind—”   “What’s going on here?”   An arm is slung around your shoulder and you jolt in surprise before easing when you see who it is. The close gesture doesn’t mean anything. You already know that Hoseok is naturally affectionate.   “Jung?” The man’s eyes flicker to you and then back to the lawyer. His jaw drops until a fly could accidentally wander into his mouth. “You two know each other?”   Hoseok scoffs, eyes slightly rolling. You remember now. You’ve met Jackson on the mountain, his entire firm actually, BTS. They’re the top competitors with Jung and Park. “Do we know each other? She’s my employee.”   Jackson points to the person beside you who still has his arm around your shoulder, eyes wide and ogling at your features. “You work for him?”   You offer a sheepish smile. “I’m in HR.”   Jackson’s hand removes from his pocket, digging into his pants pocket instead. He stands back, somehow becoming repulsed and uninterested in the split of a second when you revealed your workplace. He eyes you both carefully. “Are you guys...together?”   Your blood runs cold at the implication. Yet, Hoseok remains impassive, except for the cocky smirk gracing his visage, recalling your exact words from last night to mock the man, “Wouldn’t you like to know?”   The two males are absolutely childish to each other, and Jackson is the first to back down, scoffing and turning away. “I’ll see you later, Jung.”   “Was he bothering you?” Hoseok asks once the other man has disappeared from sight. The lawyer turns his head and when he realizes your face is a mere inch away, he lets go and puts more distance between you both.   “No. He asked me to dinner,” you admit quietly. “He was about to give me his number.”   “Trust me, you don’t want to go to dinner with that jerk. It would be a waste of your time.”   “I don’t know…” You shrug, letting the opportunity go with strange ease. Your shoulders lose their tension and you decide to tease him, “He’s the son of a rich mongol, right? Maybe you just made me lose my only chance of being the trophy wife to a business tycoon.”   “You deserve better than to be some asshole’s trophy wife.”   It’s things like this. Little things like this that have you smiling too widely.   And it doesn’t help when he also smiles and tells you, “If you want to live luxuriously, stick by me.”   You’re all too painfully aware that it means nothing, but it doesn’t fail to send a lump in your throat. Hoseok continues, “Jung and Park will let you retire early and then you can go take vacations at any resort or villa you want.”   Your voice cracks slightly against your will and you mask it with a scoff. “Be careful what you say, I might take you up on that offer.”   “I might have to negotiate with Jimin, but don’t worry.” He pats his chest, standing straight with the sweetest of smiles. “Rely on me. Your pension plan will be beautiful.”   It’s hard to imagine what the next thirty years of working together would be like. Is it possible to last that long? The question remains unanswered inside the hollows of your mind.   //   The conference proceeds without much delay. There are a variety of presenters and inspirational speakers, from social workers to retired lawyers and judges, all speaking about how to help kids when they’re put in difficult family situations. There are also people who speak from first-hand experiences and they explain how to minimize trauma to general welfare issues of children.   It’s fairly interesting and you enjoy yourself, listening, clapping, eating food, mingling and networking.   “That wasn’t too bad,” Yoongi comments outside the hall.   The lawyer had thought it would be boring, like that time he went to a conference about social development and it turned out to be entirely about the environment and had little to do with him. He knows going to these things looks good for the firm since it shows that they care, but good god, he wanted to cut down a tree that day and let it topple down on him.   “I’m stuffed.” Sunyi pats her stomach in appreciation. “Food was great.”   Seulgi stretches out her arms, feeling the knot in her neck. “One more conference tomorrow and then it’s home.”   “What did you think?” Hoseok asks you privately, curious since you had an outsider’s perspective, the least engaged with the law out of all of them.   You tip your head to the side, not taking long to come up with an honest answer. “I liked it. It was touching and informative. It was good. I’m glad I went.”   He smiles and nods in satisfaction, turning forward again. At the same time, Jimin spins around to address the group. “Should we go back to the hotel? Or do you guys want to do something?”   “Let’s not go drinking.” Seulgi casts her opinion and the rest agree that they’ve done enough of that for the rest of the month.   In the meanwhile, Jungkook is distracted by flashing lights, doe eyes glazed over, and he lifts his arm, pointing a little beyond the horizon. “What’s that?”   “Over there?” Jimin squints. “Looks like an amusement park.”   Sunyi gasps. “Let’s go!”   Jungkook is as equally excited as the female and while the rest of them are rather apathetic to it, Hoseok has gone visible pale and strangely quiet.   The flashing lights, children running past, screams echoing in the night sky, and overall cheerful atmosphere doesn’t seem to improve his mood. Sunyi points and goes running off with Jungkook to buy tickets as Yoongi slowly follows behind. Seulgi and Jimin try out a carnival game, shooting down bottles on a shelf and the female wins a toy monkey with three bullets. Jimin fails every shot and begins sulking until the paralegal ends up giving her prize to him, placating him immediately.   You eat cotton candy, offering some to Hoseok and he pulls out a tuft before letting it melt on his tongue.   “Are you okay?”   “I’m fine. Why?”   “I know you don’t like rides. I won’t tell the others if it bothers you that much. And you don’t have to go on any if you don’t want to,” you tell him and he remains quiet for an extended second.   Hoseok’s mouth parts to say something, but then the group gathers again. “We got enough tickets for everyone to ride three rides!” Jungkook cheers, holding the long tickets in his hand, and you’ve never seen him happier. At this rate, he’s jumping up and down like a jackrabbit and his adorable grin might cause his rosy cheeks to burst.   “They were going to get enough for ten rides, but I stopped them,” Yoongi declares like he wants praise.   “What should we go on first?” Seulgi asks and Jimin points.   “Let’s go on that roller coaster!”   The ride in question goes up at a height that causes your neck to knock back in order to see the top. There are screams as it loops around, a drop that seems steep, and while Jungkook replies to his boss with an enthusiastic ‘yeah!’, you have other plans. “I...I might sit this one out, guys.”   Hoseok looks at you, knowing that you’ve given him an opportunity to opt out.   But then Jungkook’s doe eyes sadden and Sunyi pouts. The two of them have been reduced to being kids. “Aw, I thought we could all go. We could get that photo. The one they take half-way? Rub it in Taehyung’s face when we get back.”   “If she doesn’t feel well, then she doesn’t need to go,” Yoongi chides and lightly karate chops the top of her head. He looks at his friend. “Are you going, Hoseok?”   “I….I’ll go.” The man builds up courage and shifts to you with a tiny smile. “Wanna come, Y/N?”   “Are you sure?” you ask him when he should be asking you. But your concerns are lessened when he nods and smiles.   “Yeah. It’ll be a good memory.”   “O-Okay, I’ll come too then.”   The man forces a calm facade, channeling bravery for the sake of his employees. Jungkook cheers and a bunch of them go running off, but despite what Hoseok says, you can still tell that he’s scared. He remains deadly silent at the lineup, face falling, hands shaking. Jimin comforts him, only for him to brush his partner off. Still, Hoseok manages to shuffle his feet forward, stepping and sitting down in his seat when the time has come.   Jungkook and Sunyi are sitting all the way up at the front, screaming their lungs off already in excitement. Seulgi and Jimin are behind them, getting hyped up. Yoongi is sitting by himself behind you, staring out at the scenery and grumbling every so often, while you are beside Hoseok.   “Are you alright?” you inquire for the millionth time, gazing at his profile and how he’s grabbing onto the hard lap bar that’s strapped over his shoulders and across his torso.   “Hhmph...mmh…”   “It’s not that bad. Just scream and close your eyes and it’ll be over.”   “Yeah…”   The entire ride jolts. The cart begins to move ahead and the attendant wishes you all a fun experience, something you’re certain Hoseok won’t have.   Everyone’s cheering and hollering, being loud and rambunctious. Hoseok screams a few times himself like he’s trying to release the tension in his muscles and no one hears except for you in the sea of noises. You’re leaning back as the roller coaster begins to climb up the steep incline at practically ninety degrees. In the next blinks, you’re high up.   The wind cards though your hair. The entire amusement park is beneath your feet. The lights of the carousel and rotating ferris wheel twinkle with the stars glittering above. It would be quiet if not for the music of the ride and the screams of the surrounding people.   The coaster stops right on the edge after climbing its hill, moments from teetering and plunging downwards.   “I’m scared,” Hoseok admits in cute squeals and he’s trembling. “I’m scared, Y/N.”   You lift your hand, not wasting one second to latch onto his. Instantaneously, Hoseok laces his fingers tight through yours, twining his hands to hold on for dear life, like his existence depends on it. And you squeeze your palm with his to tell him that you’re here. “It’s okay! Just scream!”   “Y/N!” Hoseok shuts his eyes tight and you keep yours wide open.   The roller coaster teeters and then dives straight to the ground. There are a hundred screams of happiness and fear. Hoseok screams too, bloodcurdling, while you shout at the top of your lungs. The ride goes in for quick turns before looping around and the lawyer becomes absolutely hysterical.   “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!” He sounds like he’s giving birth. You can’t help but laugh and giggle the entire time in between your own screams. For the entirety of the ride, Hoseok holds your hand, simply frightened for his life, intimidation all lost.   He shouts your name somewhere in the symphony of shrieks and no one hears except for you.   When it’s over, Hoseok slumps in his chair, defeated and drained, like a computer logged out. You’re more giddy than ever, still giggling and laughing while Hoseok never lets go of your hand. It’s there that he decides not to go on anymore rides and you join him in eating candy apples for the rest of the night. Jimin orders the picture and you do as well for your own personal keepsake.   The image is snapped right when the coaster began to fall, when you took his hand.   While sitting on the bench, hearing Jimin’s screams on the swinging pirate ship, Hoseok is pouting and childishly sulking at your teasing. You can’t stop looking at the picture, no one else noticing that your hands are wrapped around each other’s, and Hoseok chews on his candy apple before leaning his head on your shoulder. He tells you that he wasn’t scared at all.   You turn your head, unimpressed, though you’re reduced to speechlessness at how cute he’s acting towards you, trying to gain your favour so you don’t tell others what happened. The intimidating, strict lawyer is nowhere in sight. There’s only a bright young man with hope glittering in his brown irises, the epitome of sunshine, making you realize that you don’t need to see the stars in a light-polluted city like this one when he’s beside you. And that’s when you decide—   You’re going to make the people in the office see what you see in Hoseok.

#bts fanfic #hoseok fanfic #hoseok fluff #jhope fanfic #bts scenario #BTS JUNG HOSEOK is rrly not that scary??? /pikachu shocked meme/ #also OC who looks like she finally has friends in the office! let's get some high fives!!