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ellemj · 7 months

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Needs & Wants - Sex Pollen Trope Pt. 5

Bucky Barnes x Reader

**Read part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4 first for the full effect.**

Summary: As the night drags on, Bucky continues helping you through the peak activity of the chemical compound that you were both exposed to.

Warnings: SMUT, unprotected sex, oral sex, profanity, sex pollen (dubcon), near-somnophilia, dry humping, praise, possessive!Bucky, use of y/n, MINORS DNI, 18+!!!

Special thanks to @littlemiss-yeehaw for helping with the warnings <3

Feel free to comment and let me know if this requires more warnings.

Word Count: 3.6k

Author's Note: I'm living for y'alls reactions to this series over the last few days. Thank you all SOOO much for the continued support and unbelievably kind words. I hope this part does something for you all, hehe. Also, I apologize for any errors you may find. I only proofread it once and I kinda half-assed it. I hate proofreading my own work.

After sleeping the longest stretch so far tonight, you wake up at 2 am with excessively sore legs and a dire need to pee. You debate for a moment whether or not it’s smart to get up, taking into account how unstable you feel as soon as you push the covers back and seat yourself on the edge of the bed. You’re beginning to realize that maybe 75% of your pain and soreness is from the chemical that’s still working in your system, while the other 25% is from having sex with a super soldier. You peek over your shoulder at the man who lays on the other side of the bed, sleeping soundly with his lips parted the tiniest bit. Something stirs deep in the pit of your stomach when you look at him. That’s new. You brush it off as being another onslaught of arousal that you’re going to be experiencing against your will. You lean over and retrieve your panties from the floor, sliding them up your legs silently. You’re sure that they’ll just end up right back on the floor, but with two loads of cum having been thoroughly fucked into you in the last few hours, you don’t want to risk anything dripping down your leg on your trek to the bathroom.

You move slowly, pushing yourself up to a standing position and steadying yourself with a hand on the bedside table before making your way to the door. As you reach the threshold, the pain in your legs intensifies to a much less bearable level and you freeze, your right hand raising up to grip the door frame for support. You just need to make it ten feet down the hall and into the bathroom and you’ll be fine. Of course, it’s not going to go that easily for you. Has anything gone according to plan tonight? No. You hear Bucky stir behind you, the covers rustling as he awakes.

“Where are you going?” His sleepy voice tugs at you, making you look over your shoulder again. He’s propped up on one elbow now, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and then narrowing them in your direction.

“I have to pee. I didn’t mean to wake you.” You whisper. Why are you whispering? You’re the only two people in this house and you’re both awake now. Maybe it’s the darkness of the house making you feel like it’s supposed to be quiet hours.

“Why are you holding onto the door frame?” He questions. It takes him less than two seconds to figure out the scene in front of him. He doesn’t know why you have to be so stubborn and insistent on doing shit yourself all the time. You’re no different in the field. Before you can answer him, he’s climbing out of bed and slipping his boxers back on. You close your eyes and sigh, not even needing to look back to know what he’s doing. Suddenly, you feel the warmth radiating off of his body behind you, then his flesh hand lands on your lower back.

“I’m not completely useless, James.” You mutter, letting go of the door frame and taking a step forward. The pain in your thighs makes you feel as though your legs might give out with just that one step. You suck in a harsh breath and freeze for a second time.

“Right.” If you weren’t so focused on keeping your balance and fighting back tears of agony, you’d have already shoved him away from you. He keeps his hand on your lower back, not daring to scoop you up and carry you to the bathroom like he wants to. Instead, he lets you move at your own pace down the hall. As slow as a fucking turtle. James. You’ve never called him that before. Maybe putting his dog tags around your neck reminded you that he’s called things other than just Bucky, or Barnes, or ass. He takes that as you being one step closer to giving him what he wants most tonight.

Once you finally reach the bathroom door, he lets you step inside alone. But as soon as you move to shut the door between the two of you, he stops it with his vibranium hand.

“The door stays open.” His tone is no different than the one that you hear him use so often in the field, the one that he uses when he thinks he can give you orders like the sergeant he is. It’s never worked on you before and it sure as hell won’t now.

“I’m not letting you watch me pee.” You argue, trying to push the door closed again. Your efforts are fruitless, no match for his strength and his determination to keep the door open.

“Don’t flatter yourself, I don’t want to watch. I’m going to stand out here and wait, but I don’t feel like busting down the damn door if you fall.” You almost laugh. Not wanting him to see the small smile that’s beginning to turn up the corners of your mouth, you give in and turn around, heading over to the toilet. As you face the door once more, you watch Bucky step to the side so he’s just behind the wall, giving you the tiniest bit of privacy. You relieve yourself quickly, but as you’re standing up and pulling your panties back into place, a fresh wave of stinging pain travels down your spine, making you lurch forward and grab onto the edge of the sink for support. Bucky hears your hands land on the hard granite and he hears the way your breathing quickly changes from its usual calm rhythm to a quickened rhythm of discomfort. He wastes no time stepping into the small bathroom, placing himself behind you and looking at you in the mirror.

“What is it?” He asks, looking you over with a worried expression. Normally that worried expression would annoy you out in the field. He gets the same look when you come to the end of a firefight and he isn’t sure if you’re injured or not, or when you haven’t been responding on comms. It’s always made you feel like he thinks you can’t handle yourself. So, why now do you feel cared for?

“Just the same shit we’ve been dealing with all night.” You answer after taking in a deep, shaky breath. Unexpectedly, his hands end up on your hips. You’re starting to get used to him doing that. Instead of his touch giving you at least some minimal relief, your pain doesn’t subside. You wonder if maybe it’s because he’s touching you over your t-shirt. Maybe skin-to-skin contact is what you need right now. “Touch me.” Your words come out as a whisper, your eyes meeting his in the reflection of the mirror. Something flashes in his eyes, something that you think must be surprise at your request. Of course you’d write it off as that. It was actually a flash of desire, as your words immediately sent all of the blood in his body rushing straight to his dick. He knows that you only asked him to touch your skin, without any ulterior motives. He knows that. It’s his dick that doesn’t get the memo. He places his flesh palm across the middle of your back, pushing you forward gently until you’re bent over the sink. Adrenaline begins coursing through your veins and anticipation warms your core. You didn’t know how much you needed this again. He fingers the hem of your shirt, stealing one more look at you in the mirror before slowly sliding it up your back. As soon as your black panties are revealed to him, he lets out a barely audible groan. He closes his eyes for a second, gathering himself, before pushing your shirt up further until it rests near your shoulders. He lets his hands run down your back now, his flesh hand warm and soft and his vibranium hand cool and soothing. You feel the stinging pain along your spine easing in the slightest as you close your eyes and lean into his touch.

“Where does it hurt?” As he bends his upper body over yours, you feel his bare torso making contact with your back, his crotch so close to pressing against your ass. His lips tickle the shell of your ear as he speaks in the most tender yet sexually-charged tone you’ve ever heard fall from a man’s mouth.

“My back.” You answer him promptly, the pain evident in your voice. You’re ready for whatever it is that he might do to help you. As much as you hate to say it, you’re looking forward to whatever he might do. He slides his hands up your back again, before dragging them back down just like he did before. It’s not enough for you. You wonder if it’s enough for him, and the easiest way to get an answer to your question is to arch your back a little and push your ass back against him. You feel the hard outline of his cock line up with your ass and you can’t help the giggle that sneaks past your lips. Infuriating. He finds you fucking infuriating.

“What do you think you’re doing?” His voice is tense and you note the way the muscle along the side of his jaw is flexed. He’s quick to grip your waist, holding you still against the edge of the sink. His gaze narrows at you in the mirror and you think he looks almost bothered, but a little voice in the back of your head is screaming at you to test the waters.

“Hmm?” You grind your ass back again, expecting him to stop you by utilizing his hold on your waist, but he simply looks down at your ass as it rubs against his boner. You can’t read his face now. Is he bothered? Turned on? Does he want to fuck again? Bucky can barely even read himself. His cock is as hard as it’s been every other time you’ve been this close to him tonight, but within his mind, he’s warring with himself. He held himself back both of the previous times that you had sex. He was careful, diluting the strength and intensity with which he fucked you. He still fully enjoyed it, in fact, it was the best sex he’s ever had. But he was scared he’d hurt you, or even worse, that he’d get so lost chasing his own relief that he wouldn’t even notice he was practically using you.

He lets you continue your ministrations for a few seconds, watching intently as you grind against him, your back arched and your hair cascading over your shoulder. You’re so damn pretty like this that it hurts him to look at you for too long. Especially when he’s not currently inside you. He could probably stand to look at you longer if he was buried deep inside of you.

An idea crosses his mind. Something that he hadn’t been clear-minded enough to think about either of the other two times that you had sex tonight. He wants to taste you.

First, he’s going to make you scream his name while he draws an orgasm from you with only his mouth and fingers, and then he’s going to make you moan his name while he fucks your pussy.

“You know, you’ve been such a good girl tonight.” Oh my god. He did not just call you that. Bucky fucking Barnes did not just call you a good girl while his hard-on is pressed against your ass. The movement of your hips falters, but he watches as your cheeks begin to burn pink in the mirror and your eyes widen at his words. He’s found a weakness of yours.

You feel his fingertips slide beneath the waistband of your panties, slipping them down your legs in one deft movement. You kick them off to the side and you don’t miss the smug smile painted across his face while he watches you comply so readily. His foot moves between yours now, nudging them further apart. You fully expect him to strip off his own boxers and fuck you next. Instead, he leans forward, placing a soft kiss on your left shoulder, then your right shoulder, and then he ghosts his lips all the way down your spine. A chill runs through your body, causing goosebumps to spread across your skin. What the hell is he doing? You can’t even form the words to question him, especially not when his hands begin kneading your ass as he gets down on his knees behind you.

“What do you think you’re doing?” You steal his last question, but your voice is far more shaky and unsure than his was. Suddenly, his hands spread your ass cheeks apart and he circles the tip of his tongue over your clit. “OH MY GOD,” you cry out, completely powerless to do anything other than grip the edge of the sink and scrunch your eyes closed, your back arching even more than it was before.

“Hmm?” The sound he makes causes vibrations to run through his tongue and straight to your clit, drawing another loud moan from you. You can’t think of a single thing to say, you can’t think at all really. He eats you out like it’s the sole cure for the damn chemical that he inhaled earlier tonight. He focuses his mouth on your clit, switching between licking and sucking at it, memorizing the way you taste. You’re seeing stars less than thirty seconds after he sunk down to his knees. Bucky. His name is the only thing in your brain. You bite down on your bottom lip with a bruising force. As you fight to hold back from moaning his name, your right hand reaches up and grasps the dog tags around your neck, running your thumb over the inscription as he pleasures you with his mouth. James B Barnes. You feel yourself getting undeniably close to your orgasm, and he must realize it because he only increases his efforts.

“Are you gonna cum for me, baby?” He taunts, reaching up and rubbing circles against your clit with his fingers as he waits for your response. You nod, but knowing he can’t see you from his current position between your legs, you choke out a breathy answer.

“I’m so fucking close, J—” You cut yourself off abruptly before you slip up and say his name.

“What was that on the end there? Go on, say it.” He eggs you on, pride flaring in his chest at the fact that you almost said his first name. He was so close to hearing it. You shake your head, more to yourself than him, refusing to open your mouth again. “I thought you were going to be a good girl for me, Y/n.” You hear him tsk beneath you and you fear he’s going to stop everything. That is, until you feel his mouth attach to your clit once more and then…

“JAMES!” You scream his name so loud that you’re sure any enemy surveillance within a three-mile radius heard you. You couldn’t help it, you didn’t even think about it as it left your lips. He plunged two fingers into you without warning and curled them, all while flattening his tongue against your clit and giving you the most perfect, wet friction there.

You screamed his fucking name.

Bucky was full of pride and possessiveness, and so unbelievably horny. He put everything he had into drawing an orgasm out of you with his mouth and fingers, and in the end, he had you cumming so hard that you were grinding into his mouth with your left hand behind you, gripping onto his hair. You screamed his name a total of three times before your shaking legs threatened to send you tumbling to the floor, and Bucky couldn’t stand not being inside of you anymore.

That brings you to where you are now: bent over the bathroom sink with Bucky thrusting his cock into you from behind. His right hand is fisting your hair at the back of your head, making sure you can’t move to look at anything other than the reflection of him fucking the shit out of you. It’s as if a damn broke when you screamed his name the first time and now his name falls from your lips repeatedly as you moan and meet each of his thrusts, desperately chasing your second orgasm. He nearly comes undone when he hears a soft Bucky, please under your breath.

“That’s it, Y/n, say my fucking name.” He groans out, his hips snapping into you a little harder as you make eye contact with him in the mirror. Your eyes are begging him to let you cum. “You wanna cum on my cock, don’t you?” He goads, that familiar, frustrating smirk taking over his features. You nod your head as he fucks into you roughly, the sounds of his skin pounding against yours only making you wetter around his cock.

“Please, please Bucky. I need to cum.” You beg. You beg. Shit, he’s going to lose it. A deep, guttural groan is ripped from his throat as his head falls back and he moves his hands to your hips, his fingertips digging into your skin and definitely leaving bruises behind.

“Go ahead, cum for me.” He commands, rutting into you and hitting just the right spot to send you careening over the edge. Your orgasm washes over you and sends butterflies from your stomach, down to your pussy. You clench around him so hard that his own orgasm lurches forward. “Shit, just like that, baby, take it.” He lets go inside you, filling you up with more cum than the last two rounds combined. There’s so much cum that you can feel it dripping down his shaft as he continues to slowly fuck his hard cock into you. You’re so close to begging him not to pull out. You want to ask him to just stay here like this, to let you memorize what it’s like to have him inside of you like this. You’re falling off the deep end.

---

“Shh, I wasn’t going to wake you.” Bucky whispers against the side of your neck. You blink the sleep from your eyes, trying to remember where you are. You’re wide awake once you feel the head of his cock slipping past your folds and sliding halfway inside you.

“Bucky…” You whimper at the unexpected penetration, closing your eyes and taking a deep breath in. Your entrance is so sore from the three other times that you’ve fucked tonight. The feel of his cock sliding in and out of you at a gentle, steady pace grounds you. He’s spoon-fucking you in bed. You both crashed after he took you from behind in the bathroom earlier, and instead of you being the first one to wake up this time, it was him. He woke up so hard and desperate to feel you again. He wanted to let you sleep as long as you possibly could, especially when you looked so comfortable and peaceful in bed next to him, but he needed to hear you say his name again. He fucks you so slowly and tenderly that you can feel every single inch of him as he takes his time with you. You lean back into him, hooking your left leg back and over his legs as he continues his work. He takes your change of position as a go-ahead and his vibranium hand travels up your side, slipping underneath your shirt and grasping one of your tits. Fuck. He hasn’t touched you there before. You moan as he does what he wants with your body, each of your orgasms building up at a leisurely pace. Something about the way he’s fucking you this time feels so much more intimate, so much more like making love. You know you should hate it. You should want to go back to the rough, near hate-sex you were having earlier tonight, but you can’t find it within yourself to change a damn thing.

“You’re so perfect…” Bucky whimpers in your ear. He attaches his lips to the skin just below your ear. You feel his tongue on your skin, licking and then sucking far too gently to leave any visible mark. He wants to mark you up. God, he wants to mark you up. But he knows better than to let anyone find out about any of this. While Bucky is busy reminding himself not to leave any visible marks on your skin, you’re seconds away from giving him the only other thing he wanted tonight. He keeps massaging your neck, the curve of your jaw, and the shell of your ear with his lips and tongue. Without a single thought in your mind, you turn your head to him and press your lips against his. Every muscle in his body freezes, but you feel his cock twitch inside of you. You know you shouldn’t have done it, but now that you’re doing it, you can’t stop. You kiss him harder, sucking on his bottom lip and moaning against him. Bucky thinks he could cum just from this, from being inside you completely still while you kiss him. He wastes no time now, his vibranium hand tilting your chin up for him and giving him a good angle to slip his tongue into your mouth.

Fuck.

Your mouth tastes as good as your cunt.

Next Part

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#bucky barnes #bucky barnes fanfiction #the winter soldier #winter soldier #bucky barnes fic #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x you #marvel #mcu #bucky barnes smut

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subskz · 1 year

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ʚïɞ butterfly bandage - 02

note: this is part 2 of a series (part 1, part 3, part 4, part 5)

content: bang chan/reader, university au, reader is female and referred to with she/her pronouns, themes of soulmates, slight angst, slight hurt/comfort, themes of death/grief over a friend, mentions of past unhealthy relationships, nsfw scenes

18+ content: sub chan, dom reader, soft smut, unprotected sex (no condom, but reader is on contraceptives), praise, body worship, riding, light choking, under-discussed kinks (both parties are consenting), light possessiveness, biting, teasing, lots of begging, aftercare

word count: 15.8k

You didn’t want to go home.

Final exams were just a week away, and summer break would follow soon after. For anyone else, it would bring about a much-needed relief, a moment to breathe after the grueling interim leading up to the end of the semester. For you, however, all that awaited was a looming, unshakeable sense of dread.

You hadn’t returned to your hometown for nearly six months now, choosing instead to spend all of your vacation time on campus, pouring yourself into assignments and studies far sooner and far more vigorously than required. But summer break would be an exception to this new, comfortably avoidant routine of yours. The excuse that you were busy became significantly less convincing when you had no classes to attend to, and you were certain that your parents wouldn’t let you get away with not visiting home for at least a week or two, especially when the trip was less than an hour by train.

It would be the one year anniversary soon, of the loss of your closest friend. The memory was still too fresh in your mind, the wound was still wide open and festering. You hadn’t given it proper time to heal—or, any time to heal, for that matter—instead having grown accustomed to slapping on a temporary fix and replacing it only when deemed absolutely necessary. Just enough to get by, to keep yourself together.

It wouldn’t be that easy to ignore once you returned home, though. Not even close. Every flickering streetlight, every newly blossomed tree, every crack in the sidewalk that had once been so reassuring in its familiarity, was laced with memories of her. They were memories that used to make your life brighter, warmer; like a glowing ball of light you carried around in your chest wherever you went. Now, they only stung.

The sound of your phone vibrating against the nightstand snapped you out of your brooding. You reached out aimlessly for it through the darkness of your bedroom, squinting as the harsh screen light nearly blinded you in the process.

A familiar flash of gray was all you needed to see to open the notification with embarrassing haste.

chan 🐺 (3:08 a.m.) let’s go here!

For a brief moment, you were at a loss, then, the link to a nearby bungeoppang shop followed.

chan 🐺 (3:09 a.m.) their custard is so sooo sooooooo good

chan 🐺 (3:10 a.m.) akskdnsnsksjsjsk

You were grinning before you even finished reading his messages, fondness flooding your chest in place of the heavy, melancholic fog that had been occupying it all night.

you (3:11 a.m.) yummy~ we can go during finals week as a pick me up!

chan 🐺 (3:11 a.m.) yuo’re awake,??

you (3:11 a.m.) that’s my line!

Just as you were typing out another response, your screen changed to signal Chan’s incoming call, making you scramble upright in bed. You should’ve come to expect it by now, but even so, it still felt just as new and exhilarating as the first time that wolf emoji had popped up out of the blue. Predictably unpredictable.

His greeting came the instant you picked up, oddly cheerful considering how late into the night it was.

“Hey!”

“Hi, Channie,” you said softly. “Y’know, I think I’ve got you all figured out.”

“Oh?” Chan sounded taken aback. “What do you mean?”

“You’re only a phone guy when you should be asleep.”

Confusion melted into amusement, and you could hear the grin in his voice when he replied. “Hm…maybe you’re right,” he agreed. “But what’s your excuse, then?”

You paused. “I guess I’m only a good texter when it comes to you.”

The shy giggles that filled your ears didn’t disappoint. They made you feel light, carefree; like everything that had been responsible for keeping you wide awake for the past three hours was suddenly so trivial in the face of his laughter.

“So, what are you up to?” you asked.

“Trying to trick myself to fall asleep,” he said it like a joke, but you could feel the weariness behind his words. It tugged at your emotions in a way that you knew all too well. The urge to help him, to take care of him.

Your heart welcomed it, but your mind rejected it, and you were more keen on letting the latter call the shots these days. So, as naturally as it came, you pushed it away.

“By thinking about bungeoppang?”

Another giggle. “Well, more like thinking about things I wanna do with you.”

You held your breath to avoid letting a reaction slip out, but there was no way to repress the butterflies that fluttered to life in your stomach. Thankfully, Chan didn’t seem to notice. It was the one thing about you he could never quite catch, like his obliviousness to his own charm stood in the way of an otherwise razor-sharp intuition.

“How about you? What’s got you awake?”

You could clearly envision the attentive eyes and curious head tilt accompanying his question. It almost made you want to answer without restraint, to share all the thoughts that you’d been needlessly torturing yourself with for days now, rotating over and over in your head until they snowballed into something out of your control.

You stopped yourself just in time. He didn’t need to hear something like that at this hour—or, ever, really.

“Just thinking about the summer.” It wasn’t entirely a lie, and you hoped it’d be enough to get past his scrutiny.

“Oh!” he chirped. “Are you excited?”

Absolutely not. “Kinda,” you were grateful he couldn’t see your expression. “More excited about it than finals, anyway.”

“It’ll be fine!” he said confidently. “Just two more weeks, and we’re free, yeah?”

“Yeah,” you smiled. “I’m gonna miss our study sessions.”

Chan had switched from the astrophysics track after his spring semester of senior year—cutting it close was an understatement—so any classes you’d be taking for your final term in the fall would be completely new territory for him. You didn’t doubt for a second that he might try to continue tutoring you and Changbin regardless, but after finding out how hard he’d been pushing himself to help you with subjects that he already had experience with, you couldn’t in good conscience allow him to do that to himself again.

Not that you needed the study sessions as an excuse to see him anymore, but still, you felt strangely wistful about it.

“Me too,” he hummed, as if his mind had drifted to the same place. “That reminds me, you left your sweater here the other day.”

“Oh! I didn’t even notice.”

“You must’ve been distracted by something,” he sang.

You let your chuckle slip out this time, more than ready to indulge him. “Well, there was this really cute boy there. Do you think he’d be willing to give it back to me?”

“Ah…” his attempt at teasing you backfired so spectacularly that he went silent for a moment. “He was cute? I don’t believe you.”

“Cute enough to kiss,” you confirmed.

You registered a sudden rustling sound on the other line, followed by the faintest squeak, as if he were physically unable to contain his giddiness. The thought of it nearly had you burying your face in your pillow yourself. You wished you could see him.

“Then,” he swallowed. “He might give it back to you, for a kiss.”

The memory of his lips on yours washed over you all at once, so vividly that you could even recall how his soft cheeks had felt cupped in your palms and how his shaky breath had fanned over your skin.

“Is that a promise?” You held out your pinky in the darkness. It buzzed with warmth, and you wondered briefly if he was mirroring your action on his end, or if it was just the lingering heat that he’d left on you.

“Promise,” he breathed.

。⋆。˚ ʚïɞ ˚。⋆。⋆。˚ ʚïɞ ˚。⋆。⋆。˚ ʚïɞ ˚。⋆。

The final lecture of PHYS 408: Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics, more or less went exactly as you had predicted. No review for the final exam, no rundown of what to expect, and certainly no heartfelt announcement from Dr. Choi, letting you all know what a joy of a section you’d been to teach. If it weren't for the date and time of the exam scribbled on the whiteboard behind him, you might’ve thought he’d forgotten about it altogether.

He’d droned on for the first hour of class, delivering your last lesson of the semester with the same perpetual stiffness as day one, then had so generously granted the remaining 15 minutes as free time for studying amongst yourselves. Changbin appeared ready to bolt the moment the words left your professor’s mouth, but you’d stubbornly convinced him to stay just a bit longer and study with you. It was more for his sake than anything else, considering he’d only attended one of the two final exam reviews with Chan.

Changbin, it seemed, had other plans, as he hadn’t let a minute pass by without getting distracted from the task at hand and trying to start a conversation with you.

“By the way, you'll be at the get-together won’t you? Before the summer ends.”

You looked up from your notes, already sensing some kind of trap being set up.

“And by get-together you mean…?”

Changbin’s lips curved into a sheepish half-smile; caught, even with his careful phrasing.

“Well, I guess it’s more of a party.”

You made a face. You’d been to a handful of parties the past three years of your university experience, each one having been more unpleasant and suffocating than the last.

“I’m not sure, Bin. Not really my scene, y’know?”

“It’ll be your scene if I'm there, trust me.” Changbin lifted his head with a grin, and you might have rolled your eyes if his overblown confidence wasn’t so endearing.

“Uh-huh,” you played along. “Now I'm just itching to go.”

“Doesn’t the bond we’ve built these past months mean anything to you?” he whined. “It could be our last chance to really hang out!”

“It’s not like we’re dying, Seo Changbin,” you said, unimpressed. “I know for a fact that you’re taking the same Experimental Physics section as me next semester because we both put it off.”

Changbin clicked his tongue, shutting his book dramatically—which made no difference, really, considering he hadn’t read a single line of text from it. “Alright, fine. You’ve made it clear how little you value our friendship today.”

Just when you thought he’d accepted defeat, he continued.

“And of course,” a devious glint crossed his eyes. “It wouldn’t change your mind if I told you a certain friend of mine was coming?”

Ah. Despite your vigilance, it appeared you’d fallen right into his trap anyway.

“A certain friend?” you echoed. It came casual, but inside, your mind was swarming with countless possibilities. You hadn’t yet told Changbin about everything that had transpired between you and Chan, and you weren’t sure if Chan had mentioned anything to him either. The issue wasn’t so much that you were afraid of how Changbin would react, it was more about preparing yourself to deal with the theatrics of it all, the internal battle between horror and smugness that was sure to ensue inside him; because, on one hand, he’d been right, but on the other hand, he’d been right.

You could already picture it: scolding and teasing all at once, “I leave you alone with my best friend for one night and you kiss him!?”

You would never hear the end of it.

“A certain Bang Chan,” he elaborated, looking a bit disappointed when you didn’t give him the reaction he’d hoped for.

Knowing that Chan would be there admittedly piqued your interest, but not in the way Changbin seemed to think. You were more so curious as to what would draw him into such an environment—if he would be in his element, or awkwardly out of place. He was a social butterfly, sure, with a friends list that could probably fill up your entire Theoretical Methods notebook, but even so, a college party just wasn’t the kind of pastime you’d imagined him to indulge in all that much.

Still, you could be wrong. You simultaneously felt like you knew so much about Chan, yet so little. It was like you could envision the completed puzzle of him in your mind, but still didn’t quite have all the pieces in your hand.

With a start, you realized that Changbin might mistake your silence for something else, and you forced out a response before he could get too suspicious.

“Chan’s going?” you asked. “Is that his kind of thing?”

“Hm…not usually,” he tapped your pencil against the tabletop, as if it required deep thought. “At least, he’s not big on drinking and all that.”

The surge of satisfaction you felt in being correct came so strong that you were almost taken aback. It went hand in hand with that ever-present desire to know him, every part of him, better than anyone else.

“So, what’s the occasion, then? Because I know you’re not exactly a party animal yourself, Mr. Principles.”

“I’m the life of any party I go to.” He said it so seriously that you couldn’t help but snort, earning you a defensive swat to the shoulder.

“But, you do have a point,” he admitted once your giggles had died down. “It is sort of a special occasion.”

You leaned in, fully immersed now. He was being uncharacteristically roundabout today, and when that signature, shy smirk crept up on his face, you knew there was definitely something else brewing under the surface.

“It’s an event for the student music organization here on campus, so we get to do a little showcase.”

Your eyes widened. “We? As in 3RACHA?”

He simply beamed, the look of pride on his face speaking for itself.

“Bin! Are you serious!?”

For once, you were the one turning heads in you and Changbin’s direction, but you couldn’t find it in you to feel self-conscious about your outburst. “Like, a live performance?”

He wiggled in his spot, clearly basking in your excitement. “Just one song, but, yeah.”

“Still, that’s amazing!” you piped. “You should’ve just said that from the beginning, you know I’ll go if it means seeing you perform.”

“I know,” he scrunched up his nose, the embarrassment finally starting to get to him. “But I didn’t wanna flaunt. Modesty is key, after all.”

You shot him an amused look. “Is that one of your principles?”

“The most important one,” he said proudly.

Though you were less than enthused about attending a party of that magnitude, in that moment you felt nothing but delight bubbling up in your chest; for Changbin, for yourself, for Chan. You wondered what his reaction to the news had been like, if he’d broken out into that thousand-watt smile of barely-contained glee, or if the prospect of sharing his music in front of so many people had reduced him to a panicked mess, scrambling to get everything in order to put on the best performance possible.

The clock struck 9:15 a.m. to signal the end of your final lecture period. Naturally, you and Changbin hadn’t gotten any studying done, with his little announcement serving as the nail in the coffin for your motivation to work. As you gathered up your belongings and rose from your chair, an unexpected wave of nostalgia overtook you. It was likely the last time you’d be sitting in it, given that even the most absent of students would be showing up on the day of the final and taking any spot they could find. In a weird way, you were going to miss it. Some of your most miserable recollections from the semester were associated with it—stress, exhaustion, confusion, pressure—but it had brought about some of your most cherished moments as well; some of your most cherished people.

Changbin seemed to notice the sentimental expression on your face, and he gave you a gentle nudge as you strolled together out of the classroom.

“A lot has changed since that first day, huh?”

“Yeah,” you let your shoulder bump against his. “It has.”

You hoped, desperately, that it was the start of something better.

。⋆。˚ ʚïɞ ˚。⋆。⋆。˚ ʚïɞ ˚。⋆。⋆。˚ ʚïɞ ˚。⋆。

In the end, you and Chan hadn’t been able to line your schedules up even once throughout finals week to make room for your bungeoppang date. Amidst the storm of projects, presentations, exams, and papers, the two of you barely found time in the day to fulfill basic necessities, let alone to hang out with one another. You were particularly worried about the self-care situation on his end, already well-acquainted with his tendency to neglect his health whenever he was swamped. All you could do was send short, uplifting messages every few days, encouraging him to get some rest before the sun came up.

The dangling promise of fish-shaped bread (and, of course, the boy that came with it) had carried you through the week more than you’d like to admit, and by the time your last exam of the semester came around, your patience was on its last legs. You turned in your Astronomical Techniques test with plenty of time to spare, scurrying out of the lecture hall and making your way to the campus gym as quickly as your feet would allow.

Pushing open the doors to the natatorium where you and Chan had agreed to meet, you were immediately hit with the stinging scent of chlorine and thunderous sound of overlapping splashes. You scanned over the area in search of his familiar face, overwhelmed by the sea of identical swim caps. When you spotted him at last, he wasn’t emerging from the locker room like you’d expected him to be—freshly showered and, most importantly, clothed. No, instead, your eyes landed on him just in time to witness him rising from the pool, muscular arms hoisting his body up the ledge and sending streams of water cascading down his broad shoulders and back.

You froze, too mesmerized by the sight to even think about looking away before he could notice you. He pulled his swim cap off along with his goggles, shaking his wet curls free and confirming that it was, in fact, Bang Christopher Chan standing shirtless before you.

It was almost laughable, how your heartbeat picked up to an alarming speed, hammering faster in your chest the more you studied his figure. The full curve of his pecs, the toned ridges of his abdomen, the lean dip in his waist, disappearing into his swim trunks. His skin was glistening and almost annoyingly untouched. You wanted to sully it, to leave it marked up and littered with traces of you.

A sudden squeak of your name snapped you back to your senses. With how intensely you’d been staring, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise to you that Chan’s head would whip around in your direction, as if he could physically feel the holes your gaze had been burning into his skin.

“Y-you’re here!” he stammered. A part of you wondered if he might’ve done this on purpose, secretly hoping for you to find him like this when he’d suggested that you meet up with him after practice. But, judging by the way he shrank into himself, arms flying up to cross over his chest at the speed of light, he was just as mortified as you were.

You took a breath, forcing yourself to get it together. “I guess I finished my exam earlier than I thought,” your voice sounded steady, at least. “Sorry for sneaking up on you.”

Chan shifted his weight from side to side, eyes darting between you and the floor. “No worries,” he chuckled awkwardly. You made a point to avoid looking anywhere but his face for the sake of his comfort, but the way his ears had flushed a very obvious shade of red was just as distracting, if not more.

He cleared his throat. “Uh, we’re done for the day, anyway. I just gotta shower, then I’m all yours!”

You wished he hadn’t phrased it like that. “Sure, take your time.”

You managed a quick smile, turning towards the bench on the far end of the pool so he could walk to the locker rooms without worrying about covering himself up.

As if that whole altercation hadn’t been embarrassing enough already, it took the entirety of the ten minutes he spent in the shower for the adrenaline rushing through your veins to finally ebb.

。⋆。˚ ʚïɞ ˚。⋆。⋆。˚ ʚïɞ ˚。⋆。⋆。˚ ʚïɞ ˚。⋆。

“I can’t believe you just did that.”

It was the first time you’d ever really heard Chan whine—childish and pouty in a way that could give even Changbin a run for his money.

You giggled triumphantly, waving the bungeoppang in his face to really rub it in.

Chan had made the grave mistake of offhandedly telling you what he planned to order as the two of you chatted on the way to the shop, and when he’d whispered to you that he was going to run to the bathroom as you were studying the menu, the opportunity that presented itself was just too perfect for you to pass up.

Instead of waiting, you’d lined up on your own, praying that you would make it before he returned. In the end, you’d succeeded, ordering for him and yourself and paying for both portions just in the nick of time, much to his horror.

“This upset over my first win?” you taunted. “I didn’t know you were so competitive, Channie.”

He huffed, pressing his lips together in a way that made his cheeks swell. The good-natured twinkle in his eyes remained, however, and he eventually accepted the pastry in defeat. “Still, thank you.”

You softened. “Of course. It’s the least I could do.”

The two of you slipped into the nearest booth, settling in across from each other. Chan looked ready to devour his order within seconds of sitting down, but before he could, you reached out, bungeoppang in hand, as if proposing a toast.

“Here’s to getting through finals alive,” you declared.

He grinned, tapping his bread against yours. “Cheers!”

You bit into your share, the light crispness of the crust blending perfectly with its filling. Chan had been right about this place’s custard; the way its flavor flooded your tongue was nothing short of heavenly.

“Oh my God,” you mumbled. “This is so good.”

He let out a blissful hum of agreement. You glanced up to find him already halfway done with his share, cheeks stuffed and lips puckered as he chewed happily away. A stray drop of custard had stuck to the corner of his mouth, right next to the curve of his dimple, and it took everything in you not to lean in and kiss him right then and there.

Chan’s eyes fluttered open as he swallowed his massive mouthful, and you straightened up in your spot, trying to pretend like you hadn’t just been daydreaming about eating custard off of his face.

“By the way,” you began. “Changbin told me you guys are performing at the end of the summer?”

“Ah…” he brought his bungeoppang up to his nose, like he hoped to disappear behind it. “Yeah, seems like it. It’s not a big deal, though, really.”

“It is! I wish you’d told me, I definitely don’t wanna miss it.”

His gaze peeked up above the half-eaten bread, and you might’ve thought he was just playing coy if the look in his eyes wasn’t so adorably hopeful, searching your expression for a sincere show of interest.

“Really?”

“Of course,” you said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Plus, Bin would never let me live it down if I did.”

“True,” he grinned. “Would you believe me if I said I wanted to tell you?”

“Oh?”

“I was just kinda embarrassed about it,” he chuckled. “Dunno if I’d be able to face you after.”

Something about the way he said it nearly made you melt. How very like him, to feel self-conscious about performing in front of you before it’d even happened. Unable to help yourself any longer, you reached forward and brushed your thumb along the edge of his lips, scooping up the drop of custard—though, really, it was just an excuse to touch him.

Chan looked caught off guard for a moment, fingers flexing around the pastry in his hand. Then, the smile was back on his face, even wider this time.

“You’re so cute,” you murmured. “If you say that, it just makes me wanna see you more, y’know.”

He reached up to fiddle with his piercing, both dimples now on full display. “Will you be back in town by then?”

“I’m gonna be here for most of the break, actually,” you confessed.

His eyes lit up. “You serious?”

You nodded, praying he wouldn’t ask you to elaborate.

“So am I!” he beamed. “I’m doing an independent study, so I won’t have the chance to go home.”

It dawned on you for the first time that Chan’s family was, in fact, still living in Australia while he attended university. You hadn’t even considered the possibility that he might not be visiting them over the summer. That same, familiar ache touched your heart again—it must get lonely for him. Here you were, purposely avoiding your hometown at all costs, when he was likely longing for his.

“Oh no,” you frowned. “Not even for a short trip?”

“Nah.” He waved his hand, seemingly unaffected. “But it’s alright. I’ve got you, and my buddy Felix will be here for a while, too.”

Felix. Another name you’d heard thrown around by Chan and Changbin on more than one occasion. He was yet another junior that Chan had managed to befriend somehow, and, just like him, he’d grown up in Australia. It eased your mind a bit, knowing that he and Chan at least had each other when everyone else was home for the holidays.

“But what about you?” He cocked his head. “Any reason you’re staying?”

The dreaded question. This time, you couldn’t depend on the safety of a phone call to keep him from gauging your reaction.

“I just prefer it here, I guess.” You picked at the paper wrapping of your bread, hoping to sound nonchalant. “There’s some stuff I don’t wanna deal with back home. But, knowing my parents, I’ll probably still go for a week or so.”

Suddenly, the look on his face wasn’t quite so bright. It was subtle, just a fleeting crack in his typically bubbly demeanor, but not lost on you. Whether it was the mention of your parents or your vaguely cynical response that had brought about such a strange reaction, you weren’t sure, but you berated yourself for being responsible for dampening his mood, even if it was short-lived.

“I get that,” he said softly. “Let’s have a good time here together, yeah?”

Chan didn’t speak any further on the topic, but somehow, you couldn’t shake the feeling that he resonated with what you’d said more than he was letting on.

。⋆。˚ ʚïɞ ˚。⋆。⋆。˚ ʚïɞ ˚。⋆。⋆。˚ ʚïɞ ˚。⋆。

Three days into your visit back home, you came to fully accept the fact that you were in way over your head.

From the moment you’d stepped off the train, hit with that warm, familiar air, tinged with the scent of pine, you could already feel it picking away at you. The trip from the station to your house, which you’d stubbornly chosen to make by foot, was full of bittersweet sights, sounds, and smells that had shaped you growing up, with each one tugging your seams loose just a little bit more. It felt akin to whiplash, a harsh dive into the deep end of reality after the past month you’d spent with Chan, stuck in a giddy haze.

Thanks to him, the harsh sting of summer had become more of a dull ache, not quite fading altogether, but soothed into something more manageable, at least. With Iseul, Changbin, and all your other friends returning home for vacation, you’d breezed through the entirety of June almost exclusively in Chan’s company. More often than not, Felix would join in as well, making for an unexpectedly pleasant dynamic among the three of you. You’d taken a liking to the boy in no time—it was impossible not to, when he had a smile like the sun and an infectious sort of vitality that brought joy to even the simplest of activities. He was a bit more reserved than Chan, at least around you, but he had a similar kind of warmth, the kind that was sure to enamor anyone he crossed paths with.

Between movie nights (more superhero movies than you’d ever thought existed), day trips to the beach (with Chan, thankfully, taking your sanity into account and wearing a tank top at all times), and far too many baking sessions (some successful, most failed), what you’d initially feared to be a month of nothing but heat and misery had turned out to be some of the best weeks of your life.

It was only natural, of course, that the universe would follow them up with a week that was carefully crafted to send all that happiness you’d built toppling unceremoniously to the ground.

The pit of guilt you’d felt in your stomach about avoiding home for so long increased tenfold with every comment from your parents and relatives, joking about how you were too busy, too good for your family to waste time on them anymore. You almost wanted to be upset, because you knew they knew. But you also knew that they meant well. In their minds, they were doing you a favor by not addressing it, not daring to so much as utter your friend’s name around you. It was much easier to pretend like everything was okay. That was what you’d been doing for the past year, after all.

Still, no matter how hard you wished you could ignore it, the pesky, human desire for seeking solace in others persisted. You needed to release, to lift the top off the pressure cooker you’d kept so tightly sealed for so long.

You needed to talk to someone. But the only person in the world who you could’ve opened up to about losing her, was her.

Your thumb lingered over Chan’s contact, now on your fourth minute of debating whether or not you should throw caution to the wind and call him. You wanted to hear his voice rambling on, his absent-minded humming of whichever song was stuck in his head that day, his laughter.

With a deep inhale, you swiped out of your phone app, opening up your messages instead.

you (8:13 a.m.) hey it’s been a minute! how are u?

A response, almost immediately.

iseul 🪷 (8:13 a.m.) awful horrible miserable

you (8:14 a.m.) hello??? what’s going on?

iseul 🪷 (8:14 a.m.) family is driving me crazy and i hate men i also might be fired???? idk yet

You frowned, trying to process the unfortunate string of messages unfolding on your screen. You didn’t think it was possible for anyone to be having a worse time than you right now. It brought you back to your senses, reminded you of your place. Self-pity never suited you, anyway. Your sympathy was much better off reserved for others.

you (8:15 a.m.) oh my god? do you want to talk?

iseul 🪷 (8:15 a.m.) ugh yes i’ll ft you later at a family gathering rn 🤢 hate it here

you (8:16 a.m.) we’re in the same boat remember the right answer to every question is that ur focusing on ur studies

iseul 🪷 (8:16 a.m.) literally gonna be using that one all day ugh literally kill me

you (8:17 a.m.) being nosey is just how they show their love~

iseul 🪷 (8:17 a.m.) they should show their love a little less

you (8:18 a.m.) lmaoo

you (8:19 a.m.) btw do you still want me to look over that paper for your grad school app?

iseul 🪷 (8:19 a.m.) omg….. omfg yes i totally forgot omfg i’ll send it to u when i’m free pls read it fix it make me sound smarter

With the way Iseul was typing a mile a minute, you were certain you’d be in for an earful when you talked to her later. Strangely enough, it lifted a bit of weight off your shoulders. Maybe you could focus on reviewing her essay and offering her advice on the many, many issues she seemed to be facing as a way to take your mind off the growing itch in your skin.

That was all you had to do, really. Make yourself useful, keep yourself preoccupied with something at all times until you could return to campus and restart the process of tucking away every memory associated with the previous summer from scratch.

It was just a matter of holding yourself together. Just one more week.

。⋆。˚ ʚïɞ ˚。⋆。⋆。˚ ʚïɞ ˚。⋆。⋆。˚ ʚïɞ ˚。⋆。

In the back of your mind, you couldn’t help but think that a day like this one shouldn’t be quite so sunny.

The sky was bright and spotless, an endless expanse of soft blue without so much as a single cloud daring to interfere. Some might say it was a good omen, a sign that you were being watched over with a smile, but to you, it almost felt like a taunt.

Still, the nice weather at least meant that your walk to the cemetery wouldn’t be met with any unexpected rain. Your mother had offered—or demanded, rather—to drive you if you weren’t going to drive yourself, so as not to keep your friends waiting; but much to her exasperation, you’d refused. You had an important stop to make along the way, anyway, one that both fueled your apprehension, and eased it.

It had officially been a year now. A year since you’d lost your best friend, a year since you’d ended your relationship, a year since your sense of self had become muddled. Nothing in the city felt like home, anymore. It had belonged to the both of you, and with her gone, there was nothing left for you.

A sudden call of your name nearly made you jump out of your skin. You looked up from the concrete, shocked to find that you’d zoned out long enough to have reached your destination without even processing it. Your eyes raked over the worn-down stand, once a pure, striking white, now chipped and rusted with age. Still, it brought a smile to your face, the first real one since you’d arrived home.

“Is that really you, kid?”

Steeling yourself, you lifted your head fully to face the man before you. He looked the same as ever, albeit with a bit less hair on his head, but his kind eyes and jovial smile hadn’t changed one bit, they never did.

“Hello, Uncle Geun,” you greeted. “How have you been?”

Gruff, booming laughter met your ears, and you were pulled into a bone-crushing hug before you knew it. The smell of his colorful apron, musky from the heat, but not unpleasant, sent a wave of sentimentality crashing over you. It took everything in you not to tear up the moment it touched your senses.

He was a man that had watched you grow up, in the truest sense of the words. Over a decade ago, on this very street, you’d rounded the corner with a bit too much energy on your way to school, slamming into another little girl and sending you both toppling onto the unforgiving sidewalk. You’d managed to come out of it with just a skidded palm, but she, on the other hand, was bawling the instant she’d recovered from the initial impact.

Even as a child, you’d gotten the feeling that she was being a bit too dramatic about it all, sobbing about how her knees hurt and how her new jumper was ruined. Regardless, your stomach twisted with guilt, and when you saw that your apologies weren’t getting through to her, you’d done the first thing your little mind could think of, scurrying over to the nearby flower vendor and asking if he could spare you a gift for her. His smile had been just as grand back then as it was now, his laughter just as boisterous as he picked a chrysanthemum from his stock and handed it to you.

The second you’d shoved the round, yellow flower in her face, her crying came to an immediate halt, tears drying up and sniffles dying down, as if on cue. She accepted it with a smile as bright as the flower itself, pulling off a few petals for you when she noticed the scrapes on your hand.

You’d continued the walk to school side by side, and by the end of the day, the two of you had come to a mutual agreement that you were now, officially, best friends.

You blinked rapidly, hoping your expression wouldn't betray you when Uncle Geun finally pulled away from the hug.

“It’s good to see you,” he beamed. “Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?”

“That’s all you, Uncle. Even the flowers are jealous.”

Another raspy burst of laughter. “Clever as always.”

“Maybe that college education is worth something,” you joked.

His grin grew impossibly wider, silver tooth gleaming in the sunlight. “We’ve all missed you,” he said. “Doesn’t really feel like the summertime without the sight of you walking around the city with—”

He cut himself off at just the right instant. You felt a light pang in your chest, but you forced yourself to keep smiling.

“Well,” he cleared his throat. “You girls were always a joy.”

“We had a lot of great memories because of you,” you replied quietly.

An uncharacteristically somber look crossed his face, and your eyes fell back to the ground.

“So, what’ll it be, today?” he began, trying to put the pep back in his voice. “Don’t tell me you’re just here to give the old man a visit.”

“Chrysanthemums, please,” you requested. “They’re for her.”

You unzipped your bag, reaching in to pull out your wallet. Before you could even prepare your payment, however, his calloused hand rested over yours, shooing it away.

“This one’s on the house.”

。⋆。˚ ʚïɞ ˚。⋆。⋆。˚ ʚïɞ ˚。⋆。⋆。˚ ʚïɞ ˚。⋆。

You never made it to the cemetery.

However necessary it had felt for you to visit the flower stand and see Uncle Geun, the toll it took on your state of mind was far heavier than you’d ever anticipated—and you’d anticipated. Your conversation with him had left you disoriented, a strange ache pulsing through your body. Whether grief or nostalgia was at its core, you weren’t sure.

With blurry vision, you’d texted your friends that you wouldn’t be able to make it and returned home, clutching the bouquet of flowers close to your chest. In a matter of twenty minutes, you gathered up all your belongings, tossed them into your hardly unpacked suitcase, and arranged to take the first train back home. Your new home, the one that felt right for all the wrong reasons.

Despite your parents’ adamant protests, you stood by your decision to leave. You promised to make it up to them with another visit, and after almost an hour of arguing, the hollowness of your voice finally seemed to get through to them. Disapproving but ultimately understanding, they’d quietly allowed you to go.

The train ride was a blur. You didn’t remember much of it, and only when you approached the front door of your apartment at last did you feel the fog in your head begin to clear just a bit. As you dug around for your keys, you realized for the first time how stiff your hand had become. You’d kept it wrapped tightly around the chrysanthemums for the entire trip home, not loosening your death grip even once.

The heavy sigh of relief you let out as you stepped into your apartment was cut short when you registered an unexpected figure standing near the window. Even in all your shock, you didn’t have the energy to call out louder than your usual volume.

“Chan?”

His reaction was priceless, yelping in fear and spinning around at a breakneck speed. You were lucky that he at least managed to avoid dropping the watering can in his hand and send it crashing to the floor.

“Y-you’re here!?”

The fact that it sounded like a genuine question when you were standing right in front of him shouldn’t have endeared you so much. You placed down your bags, praying that your exhaustion wasn’t as obvious as it felt.

“Surprise,” you nearly cringed at how weak it came out.

In all your turmoil, you’d completely forgotten that Chan had offered to water your plants for you while you were gone. Though, to be fair, even if you had remembered, you wouldn’t have expected to stumble in on him doing so at near midnight.

“Welcome back!” His face broke out into a radiant smile. It felt more like home than anything you’d experienced the past week. “Are those new flowers for me to water?”

Despite everything, you smiled back at him, placing the bouquet on your countertop and padding over to him. He opened his arms in an instant, and you fell into them, squeezing him tighter than was probably necessary and earning a cute, tiny grunt.

“Thank you, Channie,” you simply said. His warmth enveloped you and his scent wafted over you, freshly-washed laundry and the fading, sweet citrus of his cologne. “It’s good to see you.”

“I missed you,” he sucked in hesitantly through his teeth before continuing. “But, is everything alright? I thought you still had another few days.”

“Yeah. Just a little change of plans,” hoping to lighten the mood, you added, “Guess I can’t be kept away from you for too long.”

You knew he wouldn’t buy the excuse, but he giggled anyway, shoulders vibrating against you as the melodic sound graced your ears. A part of you had initially been horrified by the prospect of Chan catching you like this, but now, all you felt was an overwhelming sense of calm.

Reluctantly, you pulled back to face him. His eyes were drowsy—nothing new there—but there was a healthy complexion to his skin. He looked just a bit tanner than the last time you’d seen him; he must’ve spent a lot of his free time at the beach.

“Well, I’m glad you’re here,” he didn’t let go of you, even after the hug had ended. “Felix will be, too. Pretty sure he secretly thinks you’re a better baking assistant than me.”

You let out a hum of amusement. “Can’t say I blame him when you steal all the chocolate chips.”

He puckered his lips into a pout. Not truly upset, but enough for you to lean in and press an apologetic kiss to them. You would’ve taken any opportunity to do so, anyway.

His breath caught in his throat—you’d quickly learned that it was inevitable, no matter how many times you kissed him—but he returned it instantly, melting into you like he’d been itching to do from the second you’d arrived. It was something you hadn’t fully adjusted to yet, how impossibly soft his lips were. They demanded all of your attention in their fullness, moving against yours with a timid sort of vigor.

You hadn’t expected it to be more than just a light peck, but once you’d gotten a taste of him, of his warmth, you couldn’t help yourself. It was his fault, you decided, for diving into you with such unabashed eagerness. Your teeth grazed delicately along his lower lip, and he opened his mouth to let out a sweet, airy sigh.

The feeling that you’d so narrowly escaped on the night you’d first kissed him took hold of you yet again, so strong in its grip that you worried you may not be able to ignore it this time. Your hands roamed down to his abdomen, brushing over it just enough to feel the outline of his muscles beneath his clothes. You remembered the sight of him in the natatorium that day—toned stomach and soft hips, smooth, irresistible skin that looked like it hadn’t been marked a day in his life. You wanted all of it, all of him.

Chan angled his head to further deepen the kiss, nose bumping against yours in the process. You felt his lips curve into a shy smile, and another sound escaped him, almost like a squeak.

You weren’t sure how much time had passed when you finally found it in you to break the kiss. When his eyes blinked open, he looked adorably lost, gaze falling right back down to your lips as if to ask why you’d stopped. He swayed just barely under your hands, and you strengthened your hold on his waist to steady him.

“You look like you’re about to fall over, Channie,” you teased.

“Sorry,” he chuckled breathlessly. “My heart’s kinda racing.”

It was such a sincere admission, so simple and honest. Even if you couldn’t already tell what he was thinking on your own, he wore his heart on his sleeve. Or rather, he held it out in his hands, offering it up to you.

You let go of his waist to lock your fingers with his. You’d grown used to the heat by now, but everything else you were feeling in that moment made it burn just as much as the first time you’d touched him. With just a light tug at his arm, he was following you to your bedroom, clutching your hand a little tighter.

“Is this better?” you asked, settling down on the bed with him.

He ducked his head, too flustered to respond. Playfully, you lifted two fingers and placed them on his neck, as if to check his pulse. You pressed down into his skin, and he nearly gasped. If it hadn’t been racing before, it certainly was now.

“I-it’s been a while,” he meekly tried to explain.

Given how his body reacted to your every little touch, you had no trouble believing it. You couldn’t deny how much it excited you, too. He was such a sweet boy; you felt a need, a hunger, to see the most intimate parts of him, to see what pleasure and vulnerability and desperation might look like on such an angelic face. You wanted to make him a part of you, to engulf him and protect him, to take on his emotions and forget about yours.

Driven by a newfound urgency, you all but crashed back into him. He met your fire with equal enthusiasm, parting his lips to let your tongue slide against his—hot and wet in a way that made the both of you shiver. Your hands began roaming again, feeling up the broad expanse of his shoulders, his chest, his arms. You palmed and squeezed at them to your heart’s content, as if to make sure the moment was real, to make sure he was real. It was still hard to fathom, that the man you’d been dreaming about for almost three months now was here in your bed.

You trailed further down in your touch, fingers sliding under his loose shirt and palms flattening against his skin. Suddenly, Chan tensed, retreating from the kiss just enough to speak, but still close enough that his lips brushed against yours with every word.

“W-wait,” he stuttered out. “I don’t…I didn’t…”

You paused, fearing for a moment that you’d misread the situation. He had said it’d been a while, after all. Maybe he wasn’t ready. Maybe he wasn’t used to moving this fast; you certainly weren’t.

“Is something wrong?”

“I don’t have protection,” he warned quietly. “I-I didn’t think…”

Despite every cell in your body crying out in protest, you pulled back to get a proper look at him. His eyes were dark, pupils blown wide and putting his longing on full display for you to see.

He seemed to be struggling with getting his sentence out, so you guessed for him. “You didn’t think this would happen?”

He averted his eyes. “Just…didn’t wanna assume anything.”

Cute, cute, cute. He was so painfully cute.

“I’m protected,” you reassured him. “You don’t have to worry.”

Even if he had brought contraceptives, against your better judgment, you weren’t quite sure if you’d be content with using them. You wanted all of him, skin on skin, every inch. Nothing else would satisfy the burn, the ache that had been burgeoning inside you since the day you’d first met him.

“You don’t have to worry about a thing,” you pressed your forehead against his. “Let me take care of you, Channie.”

The sound he made in response, low and needy in his throat, set something off in you. Miraculously, you managed to prevent yourself from digging your nails into his stomach, just to relieve some of the tension that was consuming your body at an alarming rate.

Instead, you took his chin between your fingers, tilting it up. “Is that okay with you?”

Chan swallowed, so hard that you could see his adam’s apple bob in his throat. “Yeah,” he breathed. “I c-can pull out. Just tell me when, please, and I’ll listen.”

He said it so earnestly that you pressed your thighs together. You had no plans to tell him, and you got the feeling he understood that from the look in your eyes alone.

“You’re good at listening, aren’t you?” you cooed.

He nodded, eyes squeezing shut when your hand came to cradle his head. “I’ll be good for you,” he mustered up the courage to say it, grateful for the lack of eye contact. “Whatever you want, I’ll do it.”

Good for you. The words made your heart sing. He was already so good for you just existing. He was perfect for you.

“Whatever I want?” you brushed your thumb up and down his cheek. “Everything I want is already right in front of me.”

A blush crept up on his face, dusting it that unmistakable rosy shade that was so Chan. You felt his skin heating up as he nuzzled into your palm with a flustered laugh, and you took the opportunity to gently guide him down, resting his back against the bed. With bated breath, he watched you come to hover above him, his hands bunching nervously at the bedsheets. You slipped your fingers back under his shirt and began tugging it up his torso. He stiffened, but still raised himself slightly off the mattress to allow you to pull off the garment.

The moment your eyes landed on his bare upper body, he was looking away again, chest rising and falling rapidly in anticipation. You rested a hand over his left pec, feeling up the defined muscle and his heartbeat along with it.

“Beautiful,” you murmured.

Chan stammered out something that sounded vaguely like a protest, but he didn’t have the chance to finish before you were leaning down and pressing a kiss to his neck. His response was immediate, tilting his head and baring his skin to you. Your mouth traveled along his jawline and down the column of his throat, sucking and nibbling at every spot you touched. By the time you reached his collarbones, he was already squirming in barely-concealed want beneath you, and you stole a glance at him to find him biting down hard on his lip in restraint.

“You’re so beautiful, Channie,” you dragged your teeth along the curve of his chest, and his hips shot up into you. “I can’t believe I get to see you like this.”

“Please,” he buried his face in his hands. It was adorable, but not as adorable as the sight of embarrassment and pleasure twisting his features. So, you rested your hands over his and pulled them away, pinning his muscular arms above his head and rendering them powerless.

“You said you’d do whatever I want, right?” you began. “So, no hiding.”

His eyes glazed over with lust, so taken by how exposed he felt below you that he almost forgot to nod.

“And,” you continued, lowering yourself to speak right into his ear. “No holding back, okay? I know you have a pretty voice, let me hear it.”

“I…” for a second, he appeared at a loss for words. “O-okay.”

“Good boy,” you let go of his hands, dragging your fingers lightly down his biceps and watching him shudder. You readjusted your position to resume your earlier ministrations, kissing down the valley of his chest and fighting the temptation to sink your teeth into it—hard. You wanted nothing more than to leave his skin red and bruised and blossoming with love bites, but you knew you probably shouldn’t when any marks you made would be clear as day to his teammates during swim practice. Instead, you settled for pressing wet, open-mouthed kisses along his body, grazing his skin with your teeth just enough to appease yourself without leaving a lasting trace. The softness of your lips pressed against the lean ridges of his abs, making for a contrast that neither of you could get enough of.

“Such a pretty baby,” you mumbled, licking a stripe down his stomach and feeling his muscles contract under your tongue. “My pretty baby boy.”

It slipped out like an instinct, and before you could stop to wonder if it may be too much for Chan, a long, shaky moan met your ears.

Oh. He was loud.

Suddenly, his frantic attempts to suppress himself made perfect sense. You had a feeling that he hadn’t let completely loose yet, either. Heat pooled in your stomach at the thought of what kind of noises you could draw out of him. You couldn’t wait much longer.

“Do you like that? Baby boy?” you asked sweetly. Chan raised his hips off the mattress as your fingers danced delicately along his sides, soothing and exciting him all at once.

“M-mhm.” It was all he could get out without making another mortifying sound.

“Tell me what you like,” you swirled your tongue around his belly button, slowly approaching his v-line. “Tell me what feels good.”

“All of it,” he gasped. “All of you.”

You smiled against his skin, and your lips found the waistband of his shorts, allowing you to see for the first time just how much he meant it. You’d been so focused on attending to his upper half that you hadn’t even thought about the state of him down there. He was hard, fully hard. You wouldn’t be surprised if he was leaking in his underwear by now. It almost made you feel a tinge of guilt, leaving him neglected for so long; but his building desire was palpable, and it fed into your arousal like nothing else.

Mischievously, you gave his bulge a kittenish lick. Chan all but jolted, hand flying over his mouth a moment too late to mask his hiccup.

“I’m gonna make you feel so good, angel,” you promised, fingers dipping under the elastic of his waistband. “So good, you won’t be able to think about anything else.”

“Oh, God,” he whimpered. “Need you.”

“I’m right here, Channie,” you pulled his shorts down in one go, removing his underwear along with them. He hissed through his teeth as the air hit his exposed length, cooling the drops of precum that had dribbled from his tip. Carefully, you took him into your hand, licking your lips when you felt him throb at the contact.

“Poor thing,” you feigned sympathy. “You’re so worked up.”

You knew it took everything in Chan not to bury his face in the sheets. Instead, he bucked up into your grasp as a wordless plea, struggling to gain some kind of friction. His body was just as honest as he was with his words. Every subtle shift in his expression, every sensitive twitch of his body, every poorly concealed sound—they made it so easy to understand what he was feeling. He made himself so easy for you to take apart.

Gently, you gestured for him to sit up. It took him a moment to process the command, and you couldn’t help but think he looked akin to a lost puppy, blinking his foggy eyes in confusion before clumsily willing himself upright. You ushered him back until he was resting against the headboard, slipping off your own shorts and underwear and settling into his lap in one fell swoop.

“You’re not the only one, though,” you drawled, taking his cock back into your hand. You pressed his tip just barely against your heat, allowing your wetness to mix with his precum. “Do you feel it?”

A desperate groan rumbled in his chest, going straight to your core. “Y-yes. Please, let me feel you. Wanna make you feel good, too.”

You hummed playfully, circling the head of his dick around your entrance and gathering up more of your essence. His thighs jerked up against yours, a weak apology immediately following it. Just to tease him further, you stopped what you were doing and turned your attention to your own shirt, taking your sweet time in slipping it off your torso and discarding it.

The ache between your legs was almost unbearable at this point, but the way Chan’s breathing picked up when he realized what you were doing made it all worth it. You unclasped your bra from behind, letting it slip off your shoulders and exposing your bare body to him.

His stare dropped, locking on the sight of your chest with a shaky inhale. A mere few inches separated you, but he gazed at you like you were untouchable, like he could only admire you from afar. It made you giggle—even now, he was still so shy.

“Are you ready, Channie?”

He looked back up at you with a nod, and you almost wished he hadn’t, because the pure adoration swimming in his eyes effectively sent the last of your self-control crumbling.

You lined him up with your entrance and sank down on his cock all at once. The gasp you let out was only rivaled by the sound of his own cry, loud and shameless, like he himself didn’t even realize it was coming from him.

Heat rippled throughout your entire body, stronger than you’d ever felt it before. It held the exhilaration of something new, yet the intimacy of something familiar, and it set every one of your nerve endings ablaze. You clenched around Chan the moment you connected with his base, taking in his size and shape, wrapping yourself around him; all of him, just like you’d wanted.

He surged forward with another strained noise, head falling into your chest and nestling into its softness. You rested a hand on the back of his head, tangling your fingers in his curls and placing your other hand on his shoulder.

“Mine,” you whispered.

Vaguely, you heard it, timid and breathless, mumbled into your skin. “Yours. ‘M yours.”

There was no way to hide how the words affected you, not when your walls tightened around his cock in a way that made him tremble. It almost made you wonder if he knew about the burn, about the inexplicable need to make him a part of you—or, rather, to take him back as a missing part of you. Did he feel it too?

You took a few moments to calm yourself and adjust to the feeling of him buried inside you. It felt right, like he was made for you. Like you were made for each other.

Every twitch of his length tested your patience more and more, and you knew that he himself must be hanging on by a thread by now. His hands hovered awkwardly above your hips, fingers flexing as he tried to decide what to do with them.

“You wanna touch, Channie?” you urged. “Go ahead.”

He peeked up at you from where his face was burrowed, as if to ask for the permission you’d already granted. You gave him an encouraging smile, and he took hold of your waist at last, squeezing tentatively.

“Th-thank you,” he stuttered.

He was thanking you. You didn’t think you could conjure up a more endearing, a more devastating detail if you tried. It made your heart melt and your arousal skyrocket. You needed to ruin him.

“You’re so cute,” you purred. “Hold on tight, okay?”

He pressed the pads of his fingers a bit deeper into your flesh. Using your grip on his shoulders for leverage, you lifted yourself off his cock bit by bit, relishing in the feeling of it dragging slowly along your walls. Without missing a beat, you snapped your hips back down, both to elicit a response in Chan, and to satisfy the immediate need to be full of him again. You succeeded in both, engulfing every inch of him even tighter than before, as if your body didn’t want to let him go a second time.

“A-ah, fuck!”

It sounded so strange coming from him, sweet voice cracking with a whimper, but so, so delicious.

“Is it good, Channie?”

You repeated the action, gliding up and down with ease thanks to the arousal that was all but dripping down your thighs at this point. Each bounce coated his length with slickness, creating messy, wet sounds that were sure to make his ears burn.

“Feels like I’m on fire,” he threw his head back, mouth falling open to give you a breathtaking view. “So—ah—good. You feel so good, so warm.”

You puffed out a giggle, unable to get a word in amidst his babbling. Instead, you picked up your pace, fueled on by his reactions as the pleasure steadily overwhelmed him.

“So beautiful, I—” he gasped. “Need you.”

Your heart swelled with affection; he was already so far gone. “I’ve got you,” you ran your fingers through his hair and he practically keened. “You’re doing so well for me, Channie. You’re perfect for me.”

Half-lidded eyes blinked up at you, and he subconsciously tugged at your hips, trying to pull you closer.

“I’ll be good,” he repeated his earlier vow. “You can even be m-mean to me, I’ll be good.”

The words caught you by surprise. Still, you kept your expression calm, something to ease his mind amidst the slew of sensations clouding it. You slowed down to trace your thumb along his cheek, so delicately that if he didn’t focus hard enough, your touch would be lost on him.

“Do you want me to?”

Remembering how he’d reacted earlier, you let your hands slide down to his neck, resting them there experimentally without pressing down just yet. Chan let out a whine, the vibrations of it making your palms tingle.

“There, please,” he tilted his head even further back, bumping it against the headboard. “Wanna feel you everywhere.”

Your stomach flipped, adrenaline coursing through your veins as you wrapped your fingers completely around his throat. It was thick, pumping with life. You had to use both hands. Chan bit his lower lip in anticipation, another low whine spilling out of him.

Taking great care in your movements, you began riding him again, lifting yourself on his cock, then sliding back down just as you squeezed at the sides of his throat. You didn’t want to hurt him—not really. You just wanted to toy with him a bit, watch him squirm under your fingertips. You wanted to push him to his limit, then guide him safely right back to you.

“Let me know if it’s too much, okay?”

“Y-yes,” he managed. “I will. Promise.”

The response was so immediate, so desperate, like he was afraid you might change your mind and stop. He throbbed inside you when you applied more force to your grip, almost sounding relieved in the airy moan that escaped him. You watched, fascinated, as his face flushed a shade deeper, whether from arousal or shortness of breath, you weren’t quite sure.

To better control your grip on his neck, you halted your bouncing to switch to a slower, deliberate grinding of your hips instead. Chan jerked up beneath you, the newfound rhythm pressing your walls against his cock and making him dizzy.

You contracted your fingers around his throat repeatedly, adding and removing the slightest bit of pressure to match the rocking of your hips. His tip brushed against your sweet spot, and you let out a soft moan that only seemed to bring him closer to his breaking point.

“Oh, God,” he groaned. “W-wait…slow down, please. ‘M getting close.”

“Slow down?” you tilted your head. “Why? Don’t you wanna cum, baby boy?”

He squeezed his eyes shut, and you loosened your hold on his neck so he could speak properly.

“Wanna finish with you,” he slurred. “Wanna make you feel good, too.”

You should’ve expected it. Of course he would have such an earnest, such an adorable reason to ask something of you—it was Chan. Even at the height of his pleasure, he was still thinking of yours, making sure you were enjoying yourself as much as he was. It spread an unbelievable warmth in your chest, different from the intense, sultry heat brewing between your bodies.

It also made you want to mess with him.

“Don’t worry, Channie,” you dragged your nails along his neck, not enough to draw blood, but enough to scratch, to make him shudder beneath you. “I feel good just watching you fall apart like this.”

His hands stayed latched to your hips, following them with every tortuous rock, but making no attempt to try and stop your movements. Despite that, his pleas didn’t let up, demanding in the sweetest, most polite of ways.

“Please,” his voice grew more frantic. “I’m really not gonna last, please, please.”

His whines chipped away at your resolve more than you let show; each one buzzing his vocal chords beneath your hands. He sounded so helpless, like he might burst into tears if he didn’t bring you to a climax with him.

“You sound so cute when you beg,” you marveled, sinking the pads of your fingers into his skin to feel his hammering heartbeat. “Maybe if you keep it up, I’ll change my mind.”

Much to Chan’s dismay, you continued your grinding, and you could see the concentration written all over his face as he fought to hold himself together. His hair had grown damp with sweat, face flushed and glistening from all his efforts. He looked so wrecked already; you could only imagine what it’d be like to see him cum.

You leaned in and kissed him. His lips were puffy and glossy and right there. It earned a cute mewl of surprise from the man, and it turned up in pitch when you took his lower lip between your teeth and nibbled. He let go of your hips to wrap his arms fully around your waist, trapping you as close as your bodies would allow.

“So—mmph—close.” His tongue slid against yours, jumbling his speech even further. “Please, please, please!”

You tugged at his plush lips one last time before breaking the kiss. “Gonna cum, angel?” You clenched around him, encouraging him to let go. “Don’t hold back. Empty inside me like a good boy.”

“Oh my God.” Chan’s whole body tensed beneath you, head dropping right back into your chest with a choked sob. You felt his cock pulse wildly inside you, and soon after, the flood of his release. Coupled with the moan that spilled out of him, drawn-out and broken and still so loud despite being muffled by your flesh, you were almost sent over the edge yourself.

“That’s it, Channie,” you played with his hair as his climax rippled through him. “Look at you, filling me up so well. Good boy, good boy.”

It was almost devious, the way you stopped moving like he’d so hopelessly been begging for, only once he’d come down from his high. He slumped against you, his pants gradually dying down into cute, content sighs. When he finally found a strong enough grip on his consciousness to speak, it came whiny, sulky.

“Not fair,” he mumbled into you. “Wanted to finish together.”

He lifted his head, and you broke out into gentle giggles. The expression on his face would’ve been one of pure bliss if it weren’t for his very prominent, very effective pout.

“Can I count this as my second win?” You tapped his nose.

He huffed, but the beginnings of a smile tugged at his features, betraying him. “Please, let me do something for you.” He glanced down at the spot you were connected, wetting his lips. It made your core clench in a way that you knew he couldn’t miss. “Let me make you feel good.”

“I do feel good, Channie,” you insisted, and you meant it. “Better than ever, actually.”

Though the guilt didn’t fade from his pleading stare and furrowed brows, he at least seemed to believe you. He studied your face for a split second longer before leaning in, nudging his nose against yours to ask for another kiss.

You could’ve easily stayed that way for the rest of the night, savoring his warmth, the fullness, the wholeness that you felt when nestled into each other in every possible way. But judging by how sensitive Chan was, you knew there was a very real chance of him getting hard again, and regardless of how much you wanted it, neither of you had the energy to go again. Reluctantly, you hoisted yourself off of his length, sharing a flustered exhale with him when some of his seed trickled out of you and dripped on to his thigh.

Ten minutes later, the two of you were laid side by side in your bed, staring at the ceiling with your hands brushing delicately against each other.

“This…” Chan spoke up suddenly, breaking the comfortable silence. “This isn’t a usual thing for me.”

You couldn’t deny the relief you felt upon hearing it. The answer to a question that had been floating in the back of your mind without you even realizing. It was selfish—meaningless, too—but you felt it all the same.

You were well past the point of pretending like your relationship with Chan was something ordinary, anyway. Whatever existed between you, it was magnetic and burning and inevitable, almost like you had no choice in the matter. In fact, that had to be the case, because if you’d had a choice, you certainly wouldn’t have let yourself fall into him so hard, or so fast.

“Me neither,” you admitted.

You heard the sheets rustle next to you. “Really?”

“Really.”

There was the faintest smile in his voice as he continued, and it made you wonder if he was indulging in the same, selfish satisfaction as you. It wouldn’t be a surprise, considering the way he seemed to mirror even the most intimate parts of you— parts that you barely even knew of until you saw them reflected in him.

“Yeah,” he breathed. “I…I’m never so…quick?” You could tell he was trying to choose his words carefully, but there was only so much he could do when his emotions were still running high and his head was still in a haze. “It can take months, e-even longer sometimes, for me to—”

“I don't think you’re easy, Channie,” you teased. “If that’s what you’re worried about.”

You turned your head, just in time to see that rosy tint spread across his cheeks, still visible even in the dim light. It was a sight you might get addicted to.

“I just want you to know that this means something to me,” he said softly.

Something gripped you, dropped a pebble in the calm surface of your lake. You didn’t have much time to think about it though, to worry about finding a window to break out of before you were past the point of no return. For tonight, you let yourself lean fully into that persistent flame.

“It means something to me too,” you murmured. “I wouldn’t have done this with anyone but you.”

Chan let out a shy hum, going quiet for a bit before stroking your pinky finger with his.

“So,” he began. “Are you ready to tell me what happened?”

You tensed slightly in your spot. You’d hoped he would’ve forgotten about it by now, or, at least, been too busy basking in the afterglow to bring it up again so soon. The endorphins that had been flooding through your system ebbed just a bit. This moment was too precious to sully by thinking about it—about him.

Suddenly, it felt all too reminiscent of what had transpired exactly one year ago; the first and last time you’d ever tried talking to anyone about the loss of your friend. It had been with someone you’d thought you loved, someone you’d thought loved you. And maybe, he really had believed that he loved you, too. You’d never know, now.

Imbalanced didn’t even begin to describe it. Imbalance was the balance of your relationship; you’d provide everything, and he’d take it all. The roles had come so naturally to the both of you that you’d never once questioned them, or where they might lead you.

He needed comfort, you liked comforting him. He needed support, you liked supporting him. He needed someone to depend on, you liked being depended on. Equal exchange, the perfect dynamic on paper, and—for the most part—it had worked. You didn’t really have the chance to notice how thin you were stretching yourself, because he was happy, and that made you happy.

One simple question was enough to shake that foundation, however, enough to expose how fragile it all really was and send it toppling to the ground in the ugliest of ways. A question that, in all its simplicity, hadn’t crossed your mind until you were all but forced to confront it last summer.

If your relationship was built solely on your ability to accommodate him, what happened when you couldn’t accommodate him anymore?

You were always encouraged with the most deceptively sweet words to open up to him, to share your thoughts and feelings and troubles the same way he did with you. But every single time without fail, his reaction made you want to seal your mouth shut, never to have the audacity to utter a single word about yourself again.

“I regret asking” or, “Well, now I’m just depressed” or, “Let’s talk about something else” or, sometimes, even nothing at all. You soon came to find that the role you had taken on wasn’t just to his benefit, it was to your detriment. You were a mere footnote in his happiness, and nothing could ever break that mold.

“My best friend died.”

“Oh,” he’d said. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s horrible.”

You’d nodded, sensing instantly that you would’ve felt better if you’d kept quiet.

“I don’t really know what to say.”

You shut your eyes, unsure of what you’d expected from him in the first place. It was pathetic, anyway, to hope for words of comfort that you knew would be hollow. Nothing could’ve made it okay, especially not anything he could offer you.

“That’s okay,” you replied. “You don’t have to say anything.”

A deep breath, and then, a glimpse of weakness.

“Just…stay with me, please.”

The request had sounded so unnatural coming out of your mouth, like it was a phrase you were learning to say in a foreign tongue for the first time. You winced at yourself, but it was already too late to take back.

“Oh, yeah. Sure.”

The two of you had sat in silence for some time. It could’ve been seconds or hours, and you wouldn’t have known the difference. His hand rested on your back for part of it, running up and down in a motion that you used to calm him down when he was upset. Eventually, though, he seemed to have decided it was a lost cause and awkwardly removed it.

You still weren’t quite sure how you’d managed to hold back your tears that day. But your sniffling and sobbing being the only sound echoing throughout the deathly silent room had been the last thing you’d wanted; you already felt vulnerable enough just letting him see you like that. You didn’t want to break in front of him, and you were certain he didn’t want you to either. A crack in you meant the absolute shattering of him.

After shifting around uncomfortably in his spot for a few moments, he finally spoke up.

“Maybe this isn’t the best time, but does that mean tomorrow’s off?”

It took several seconds for you to process the question. You wondered, briefly, if you’d imagined it at first, or if he really was just that horribly out of touch with reality—with you as a human being.

You wanted to glare at him, to ask him why that would even be something to consider right now, let alone ask about, but miraculously, you’d restrained yourself.

“Yeah. I might need a few days.”

More silence, and then you felt his weight lift from the cushions next to you. He avoided eye contact as you raised your head to look at him.

“I should probably go.”

A pang in your chest. “Why?”

Please don’t. You’d desperately wanted to add.

“I feel bad. Like, I shouldn't be here,” he mumbled. “Just…let me know when you’re feeling better, alright? Love you.”

And then he left.

A few days later, he’d texted you like he always did. No question of how you were, no condolences, and most definitely no apology. He’d said he missed you—which, you’d come to learn long ago, was never just an honest expression of attachment when it came to him. It was a signal, a sort of code to let you know there was something he needed from you. He didn’t just miss you, he missed what you could do for him.

Another week passed, and you’d broken up with him. It was unusually cold of you, doing something so drastic through text, but you couldn’t find it in you to even leave your apartment, let alone face the maelstrom of emotions that were sure to unleash if you’d met him in person. You’d experienced it once before, the first time you’d tried to end things. Crying, begging, apologizing, all so profuse yet so hollow.

The second time, his guilting and false assurances hadn’t worked, or rather, they might have if it weren’t for the distance between you. If you’d tested your conviction in front of his distraught, teary face, swearing that he wouldn’t be able to live without you, you weren’t so sure you could’ve gone through with it. He looked so innocent, so harmless, you’d never guess that he’d be the one to suck the life out of you without a care in the world.

When the usual tactics didn’t work, he’d resorted to anger. In a way, you understood—he was hurt, and no matter how hard you tried to spell it out for him, he simply couldn’t comprehend all the ways he’d hurt you first. He hadn’t done anything, but that was exactly the problem.

As much as you wished you could’ve brushed it off, it had stuck with you. The accusations that you were a liar, a manipulator who promised him boundless love and care only to rip it away with cruel indifference once he’d come to rely on it. Even now, you weren’t entirely sure if he’d been wrong, and that in itself was enough to make you want to lock away your heart and toss out the key for good.

But here, you had Chan. The boy who could be carrying the entire world on his shoulders, and still offer to take some of the weight off of yours. The boy who could be struggling to keep his own head afloat, and still pass you his life preserver without a second thought. The more time you’d spent around him, the more you’d come to witness firsthand just how much he did for everyone, even people he wasn’t particularly close with—from small, thoughtful acts that might go unnoticed, to favors so arduous that they left him physically and mentally drained. All with the sweetest of smiles on his face.

You wanted to be the reason for his smile, not for his weariness.

“I told you,” you said lightly. “I just wanted to see you.”

“C’mon,” Chan giggled. “I know it’s more than that.”

You wondered just how much he knew. You wondered if he knew better than anyone else. Despite the complicated thoughts unfolding within you, you grinned, turning on your side to look at him. “I promise I’ll tell you later, okay?” You held out your pinky for good measure. “Right now, I don’t wanna focus on anything but this.”

Chan curled his finger around yours, the glow in his eyes rivaling the moonlight peeking through your blinds. You must’ve thought about how beautiful he looked a million times throughout the night, but now, faced with his tousled curls and his puffy lips—still reddened from all your kissing and biting—and his gaze that was watching you like you’d put the stars in the sky, it was all you could think about. He made it so easy, you mused, to focus on nothing on him.

You tried to snap yourself out of it. He was sweaty, he was sticky, most importantly, he was exhausted. He must be uncomfortable, laying in all the heat and perspiration that had accumulated in those sheets—thirsty, too. You unhooked your pinky from his and rolled off the bed with a bit too much haste, catching his attention.

His expression changed as he watched you rise to full standing, taking some time to stretch your spent muscles before searching around for your discarded top.

“Oh. Should I get going?”

It came quiet, demure, and it made you whip your head around.

“What?”

Chan paused, uncertain. “I-I mean…do you want me to leave?”

“Of course not,” you said instantly, just short of sharp. You were almost afraid to, but regardless, you asked, “Unless…you want to?”

“No,” his reply came just as fast. “Not at all.”

You had half a mind to ask him why he would even think you’d want him gone, especially given the conversation you’d just had, but you were too distracted by the look of pure bewilderment on his face. You didn’t understand it, nor did you like it.

“I’m just getting a washcloth and some water,” your voice softened, and it seemed to get through to him, at least.

“Oh,” he repeated. “Okay.”

It was followed by a small, bashful nod that eased your concerns just a bit. You padded to your bathroom and shut the door behind you, trying not to keep him waiting for too long as you cleaned yourself up and prepared a towel for him. His eyes followed you curiously when you stepped out and passed him on your way to the kitchen, retrieving two water bottles before finally joining him on your bed once more.

There was a short delay when you offered the water bottle to Chan. He blinked at it, as if it were some kind of unknown object, before thanking you quietly and accepting it from your hands. You told yourself he was probably still just a bit dazed, but it was hard to ignore the tinge of worry that pricked your mind.

As he tilted his head back to drink, your eyes fell down to his neck, admiring the way his throat bobbed with every gulp of water. The skin around it was blooming with noticeable, red marks along the lines you’d dragged your fingernails. It made you cringe slightly at yourself. You must've been more lost in the heat of the moment than you’d thought.

“How do you feel?” you checked once he’d downed half the bottle. “Does it hurt?”

You gestured to his neck, and he raised a hand to brush his fingers over the tender skin. “It doesn’t hurt,” he gave you a reassuring half-smile before adding, “I like it.”

You tried not to let the words affect you, to make you pounce at him and take him all over again. Instead, you took hold of the washcloth you’d prepared and pressed it to his neck. The water you’d soaked it in was warm, but it still felt cool to the touch when pressed against his burning flesh. He sighed contently, eyes drooping as you rubbed the reddened areas, taking great care not to irritate them further.

“Wanna lie down for me, Channie?”

“Ah…” He looked away, already leaning back despite the hesitance in his voice. “I-it’s okay, you really don’t have to.”

“I want to,” you said simply.

Chan seemed to sense the sincerity behind it, as he laid himself out the mattress without any further objections. Sheepish, but willing. Carefully, you began dabbing the towel at his face, wiping away the sweat from his forehead and making his eyes flutter shut. His muscles visibly relaxed as you moved further down his body, rubbing his neck, his shoulders, his chest, his stomach, his hips—you left no inch unaccounted for. The warm water you’d soaked the washcloth in calmed his every nerve-ending, so soothing, it almost distracted from how hyperaware he was of your every touch.

His breath caught in his throat when you brushed over his thigh to clean up the mix of fluids that had begun to dry up on his skin, legs threatening to squeeze shut.

“You’re so sensitive,” you remarked.

He shifted slightly, an awkward chuckle escaping him. “Sorry.”

“It’s cute,” you gave him one last once-over before removing your hand, satisfied. “How are you feeling?”

“Good. Really good.” he blinked up at you lazily, a silent invitation for you to stop fussing over him and settle down next to him in the sheets at last.

You placed the washcloth on your nightstand, collapsing into the plush pillows with a sigh of your own. Chan scooted closer to you within seconds and, chest swelling with fondness, you opened your arms for him to nestle into. Even in all your intimacy, the two of you still couldn’t get enough of each other, filling every curve and gap between your bodies and interlocking your legs. You pressed a kiss to the top of his head before wrapping your arms around him, leaving no room for doubt that you wanted him there.

“Good night, Channie.”

“G’night,” it was barely audible, but even so, you could still hear the faint tremor in his voice. “I…thank you.”

Your eyes flickered down to him one last time before sleep overtook you. For a fleeting moment, you could’ve sworn you saw a wet gleam brimming in the corners of his eyes.

。⋆。˚ ʚïɞ ˚。⋆。⋆。˚ ʚïɞ ˚。⋆。⋆。˚ ʚïɞ ˚。⋆。

In retrospect, going out to buy groceries on a Sunday afternoon probably wasn’t your smartest move.

After you and Chan had awoken the morning prior—or, just you, you weren’t sure how much sleep he had really gotten—groggy and ravenous only to find an alarming lack of food in your apartment, you wanted to restock as soon as possible. In your defense, you hadn’t been home for over a week, and even before that, you’d been spending a considerable amount of your time out and about with Chan or at his apartment. Still, it was embarrassing enough for you to not want a repeat of the situation, especially given how often you’d make a point to scold him and Changbin for not eating substantial meals.

You’d trudged to the nearest convenience store with a list of basic necessities typed out in the notes of your phone, only to soon discover that you’d be lucky to find anything you were looking for judging by how packed the place was. The state of most shelves was enough to make you think people must be preparing for some kind of apocalypse unbeknownst to you. Frowning, you made your way over to the prepared meals section, hoping to at least find something to get you through the next few days. As you maneuvered past the suffocating amounts of people, the sight of a familiar face across one of the aisles stopped you in your tracks.

A sharp, sculpted nose bridge, eyelashes swooping out like a ski slope, and a slight lean in his posture. Lee Minho. You hadn't expected him to even be back in town yet, let alone to be running the same foolish errand as you at this hour (all for the sake of cola, apparently, if the ridiculously large stash in his basket was any indication).

He seemed to have noticed you just a split second before you did him, fixing you with a stare so sharp that you had to blink a few times to make sure you weren’t imagining it.

You weren’t.

His eyes were dark and unwavering, boring into you with an intensity that made you feel as if you were the only two people in the store—and not in the romantic, heart-fluttering kind of way. It was more like everyone else had scattered the instant they’d sensed the tension, leaving you to fend for yourself under a glare that singled you out with an almost predatory accuracy. You waited for the reveal, the cheeky smirk that always followed, but it never came.

Oh.

Minho didn’t like you.

He really, really didn’t like you.

You felt stupid for not realizing it sooner. At the same time, however, he’d never really given you a reason to, and you liked to think you weren’t dense enough to completely miss it if he had. Suddenly, you found yourself re-evaluating every interaction you’d ever had with the guy, scanning and analyzing your conversations down to the most minute of details to try and recall if that same coldness he was emitting now had ever been present before. You thought back to the last time you’d spoken to him, just a week into summer break before he’d gone home. The two of you had started up a short, innocuous chat about the current anime he was watching, and outside of his very serious claims that it was undoubtedly the best of the season, nothing else about it really stood out to you.

You’d even taken his suggestion and watched it in your free time—one of the many, many distractions implemented in your visit home—and you’d planned on sharing your thoughts with him when you saw each other again. With the look he was giving you now, though, like he hoped you might spontaneously combust if he focused hard enough, you got the feeling he wasn’t exactly interested in hearing what you had to say.

Minho turned his head, preparing to leave the aisle without acknowledging you any further. Despite every one of your instincts telling you not to, you followed him, too consumed by curiosity to ignore whatever kind of message he’d been trying to send with just his eyes. You needed to test things out, to be absolutely sure. You needed to know what had changed since the last time you’d spoken to him.

Well, realistically, you knew what had changed. One very major, very undeniable thing had changed. But that couldn’t be it—could it?

“Hey, Minho!”

He might not have bothered stopping if it weren’t for an older woman passing in front of him with an overloaded cart. You squeezed past the rows of people as quickly and respectfully as you could, managing to catch up with him just in time.

It was a bit harder, you noted right away, to mitigate the effects of his stone-faced expression up close. He gave you a terse nod.

“Hey.”

“You’re back in town?”

His face changed just barely, trading out stoicism for something a bit more amused. “Very observant.”

You forced out a light laugh for the sake of extending the conversation, just long enough to get a proper read on him. “How was your vacation?”

“Fine,” he shrugged, adjusting his grip on his basket. “Not long enough.”

“I feel that,” you made a noise of sympathy, as if you hadn’t spent the past two months counting down the days until the fall semester began.

“How about you?” he was at least polite enough to return your question, but for some reason, it didn't really sound like he was asking. “Had fun?”

You barely caught it—a sneer. He definitely knew. It made your stomach flip a bit, if you were being honest, but you managed to keep a straight face.

“Yeah,” you replied evenly. “Me, Chan, and Felix made the most of it.”

“I’m sure.”

In your efforts to talk to him, you seemed to have accidentally stumbled into some kind of one-sided staring contest with this guy, because he hadn’t broken eye contact even once from the moment you’d strided up to him.

“It’s a shame,” he continued casually. “That you won’t be coming over anymore.”

You paused. “What do you mean?”

“Don’t tell me you’re planning on using Chan as a tutor this semester, too?”

Something about the way he said it, the way he phrased it, made it difficult for you to keep up your composed front.

“Of course not. He’s done enough for me already.”

“Good,” Minho hummed, and though it appeared to be in agreement, it only put you further on edge. “He’s graduating after this term—you know that, right? So, playing hero for you is the last thing he needs.”

You narrowed your eyes. For a brief moment, you wondered if he might actually be jealous of you, if he somehow saw you as some kind of threat. But you dismissed the idea almost as soon as it came—the look Minho was giving you wasn’t of someone who was threatened, it was the look of someone who was threatening you.

“Why are you talking to me like that?”

“Like what?” he cocked his head innocently.

“Like I’ve done something wrong.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” he dismissed. “Maybe it’s just your guilty conscience?”

You wanted to be annoyed, to call him out for how he was behaving in a way that he couldn’t twist. The problem was, he was being so fucking weird. You couldn’t even fully understand what he was trying to get at, or what his angle was. You weren’t even sure if he had an angle outside of just trying to get a rise out of you.

The corner of his lips curved up into a smirk. Just like the day you’d first met him, it was pure trouble, only now, it was missing the playfulness you’d come to know.

“What’s with that face?” he chuckled. “I’m only joking.”

Whatever this situation was, you decided you’d had enough of it.

“You’re usually funnier than that,” you said curtly.

At that, you dipped your head, stepped to the side, and walked past him, determined not to let the strange feeling bubbling up inside you reach the surface.

Minho’s stare followed you as you stalked off, piercing into your back. Even after you’d rounded the corner into another aisle, the chill of it lingered on your skin.

#bang chan x reader #skz x reader #bang chan fanfic #bang chan smut #skz smut #sub!bang chan #sub!skz #dom!reader #skz fanfic #skz imagines #bang chan imagines #sub!chan #stray kids x reader #bang chan x you

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horrorartsworld · 28 days

Note

please can you write valentino with an abnormal obsession with the reader? like this man will sit there with vox watching her every move and catches her doing something she shouldn’t be (which will be left up to you 🩶)

⊹₊⋆ valentino x f!dancer!reader

warnings: smut. possessiveness. manhandling. somewhat gore?? (val pew pews someone), nippleplay, choking, degradation, daddy kink, very little proofread 😭

love me some obsessive vallll

You just so happened to be working the floor that night, wearing the most revealing lace set known to man with lace garters to match. Heels big yet elegantly chunky as you made your rounds along the stage giving sweet yet suggestive glances in hopes you’d find a dumb enough sinner that was willing to play with you so you could scrounge around and get your moneys worth. “H-Hey there pretty thing~,” Bingo. An old drunken who most certainly had the money and in his state would blow it just for some high quality ass. You instantly put the sway in your hips and approach, a big pretty grin on your face as he pats his lap for you to get on. A routine you knew all too well that was all apart of the business.

On the other side of the building where the V.I.P section stood in a big king pin like booth sat your boss and his charismatic side piece, Vox.

“Sooo whattda think of the new broadcast today Val,” He asks simply trying to make conversation over the blaring music, but Valentino wasn’t being responsive as his attention was elsewhere. Thigh hopping in frustration, face turned up in a scowl all while taking longer puffs of his cigarette barely getting a breath in as he watched your every move like a hawk.

Vox’s animated brows raise on his screen at the scene unfolding in-front of him. Your sweet figure mostly on display because of your attire, dancing thoughtlessly amongst the old geezer as he slipped some cash in the waistband of your panties. Which all seemed fine and dandy to Vox, but that wasn’t the case for Val. “Hey she’s doing her job…no need to act like an overprotective father about it..” He attempts at cracking a joke to lighten the mood, nudging Val’s shoulder as he takes a swig of bourbon, leaning back on the couch with his flat head leaned back. Valentino just scuffs, exhaling some of his smoke in the process, clouding the once clean airways of the booth with red tuffs of smoke.

“I know that *squeak* dickhead…” He grumbles knowing that sure he wasn’t your father, but he sure as hell was your boss and you his sweet golden girl that he would occasionally see on the weekends. Though something came over him making him suddenly sit up straighter when he sees you twist in the sinners lap facing him, moving your chest towards his face almost suffocating the man with your plush mounds covered in that delicate lace, but what had Val the most furious was when the man had lifted the lace to put his mouth on one of your perky buds making him spring up from where he was seated and stalked his way over to the two of you. Leaving Vox to eat up the drama from afar.

You let out a surprised mewl at the sensation looking down on the man with wide eyes, but before you could even react Valentino was towering over you two with a dark aura protruding from him and his eyes glowing bright red. Your body runs cold under his gaze not knowing he had been here this whole time and it’s then you get a slight glimpse behind him of a bright light shining in your eyes from the glare of the tv-headed man sitting on the other side of the room. You mentally curse at yourself for what you got yourself into, being then grabbed by the back of the neck and yanked off the man’s lap to stand behind Valentino. “If you know what’s good for you, you’d get the fuck out of my club before I throw your ass out…” Val says with growling undertones to his voice that sounded like he could kill. “Jeez m-man I was just having a little fun...” The older man slurs raising his hands for a split second in defense before he wobbly got off the chair. Val stares intensely at the man as he begins to walk out hearing him then mumble, “she’s a fucking skank anyway..”. Your eyes just about bulge out of your head, “Val b-baby let’s just g-,” before you could even finish your sentence Val grabs one of his revolvers and blows the man’s head clean off, blood splattering amongst everything and his limp body hitting the floor with a thud from the loss of life.

You stand there frozen trying to process what just happened as the party around you never missed a beat, being use to Val’s rage full tangents like this one, including Kitty his fizzbot who immediately started cleaning up the mess.

Val had grown deafly silent during this time, not saying a single word even as he grabbed your wrist to yank you off to god knows where. Passing Vox in the process who says, “Way to go mothy..,” still sipping his bourbon like a baby, though again Val didn’t even bother to respond till you made it to his back office where he threw you on the floor and slammed the door.

“I-I’m-” you chocked out, voice trembling, “Hush carñio..,” He shushes before you could even muster up the apology, towering over you once more to then suddenly scoop you up in his arms almost cradling you close to him before he brought you over to a loveseat where he sat you on his lap almost just like the man had you earlier. He just stares at you with a half-lidded gaze for a moment behind those sunglasses of his before he tucks some of your hair behind your ear in a foreign gesture, “You know you’re mine right…?” The unanticipated question making your mouth fall agape before you answered a meek, “yes..”

“So when another dead man touches what is mine…what do you think i have to do? hmm..” Dread bloomed in your chest as a million things ran through your head at what he could possibly mean by that, his hand lightly slaps your ass to gain your attention back as you started to drift too hard into what the answer could be, which you just settled with, “I-I’m not sure..”

He chuckles knowing you wouldn’t, eyes trailing your body a moment, “Then let me show you doll..”

Without warning the lace of your shirt is over his head, pushing off his hat and his mouth is latched onto your sensitive bud, sucking harshly. Your breath hitching as the feeling felt way differently from how the man had did it moments before, along with one of his other hands kneading against the one that wasn’t getting his mouths attention currently. When he unlatched from one a string of silva would still connect the two together and his expression would look loss in bliss as he would then lowly hum when he latched back onto the other one. Earning a soft whimper from your lips that reacted in Valentino’s hips bucking up into your needy cunt that was soaking your thin panties.

“T-tino…” You’d mewl out, hands running over his bald head desperately now needing him to show attention elsewhere as he ignited an undeniable heat within you.

He’d then lightly graze his teeth against your nipple to earn another little desperate plea before coming off of it with a pop. “Where you need it baby…” He’d ask huskily now tugging and tracing at the garters on your thighs teasingly.

“I-I need it inside..” You’d pout without hesitation, thighs twitching with each touch he made. He’d snicker at this, leaning back on the loveseat while pulling his hands away to hang his arms on the back of it with a smug grin, a confused look now forming on your face.

“Well the belt ain’t gonna unbuckle itself..” He nods motioning his head for you to do it while he looked down at the big heart belt buckle. Adjusting his hips once your delicate hands decided to fumble with it, eventually getting it undone and going the rest of the way to pull his cock out. “Mmm such a naughty little whore…,” He then suddenly grabs you by the neck giving it nice squeeze before pulling your mouth onto his. Long pointed tongue invading your personal space almost making it hard for you to breathe with his clawed fingers also digging into the skin of your neck. When he pulls away you almost feel dizzy from how long he had you there, both of you breathing heavily.

“My whore..” He adds mumbly, not failing to make your heart race even faster in the process as he then with two of his fingers tug down your panties and the bills tucked there falling with them. “And look how wet you already are baby..fuck” Turning his attention now to your exposed cunt that was practically dripping with your arousal onto his thighs.

You blush uncontrollably at the sight yourself, but that doesn’t stop you from lowering down onto him which he gladly let you. The stretch of his size feeling unbelievable when it’s finally enveloped in your warmth making you let out whiny moan once he was fully inside.

Val chuckled though it soon turned into a hiss when you had finally adjusted and moved your hips creating that delicious friction you both so desperately needed. A pair of his hands helping by gripping onto your waist and bouncing you up and down his length while the others kneaded against your breasts again. “T-too much..” You hiccuped, tears welling up in your eyes as the pleasure overwhelmed you, with his cock grazing your cervix each time he brought you down onto it. “Nonono…you can take it frme..”

You throw your head back as if throwing a tantrum with a pitiful cry following, only making him let you come down faster and earning a couple pinches at your nipples. “Aww is daddy breaking that little mind of yours… along with this pussy feeling like it’s getting split in two huh?” He coos, which only makes you huff.

“Mmph! P-please daddy!”

“Please what?”

You tried to form the words to think properly about what you were trying to spit out. Your mind being to foggy with only things of pleasure and the filthy sounds the two of you were making with your bodies.

You gasped, “I need to cum! please…i wanna cum!”

“Oh you wanna cum princess?” He says almost as a challenging question, making his movements faster feeling his own build up coming.

“I wanna cum daddy …” You pout, as you begin squirming in his hands with your orgasm so close.

“You wanna cum?” He repeats knowing that it was only getting you more relied up.

“Mmm! Yes!” You almost scream, biting down on your lip to conceal it, the right knot unraveling once the tip of his cock firmly pressed against your cervix. Your eyes screwing shut as you creamed around his cock, his name the last thing falling from your lips.

Val groaned, cock twitching before he painted your gummy walls white shortly after with his thick load. You cling to him for a moment just revealing in the feeling before it was gone.

Knowing how Valentino was you started to get up and get ready to head back out, but before you could get completely off of him he sits you back down, the sensitivity of your cunt making you whimper when it was greeted with his cock once more. He grabs your cheeks squishing them before he makes you look him in the eye, “Remember this moment the next time someone takes it too far…you hear me?”

“Y-yes sir”

“Good girl…Now how about you clean me off a little yeah?”

#☆⋆｡𖦹 my writings #☆⋆｡𖦹anon’s #☆⋆｡𖦹 valentino #hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel x reader #hazbin imagine #hazbin hotel fanfic #hazbin hotel smut #hazbin valentino smut #hazbin valentino x reader #hazbin hotel valentino #hazbin valentino #valentino x reader #valentino smut #valentino

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e-m-ma-lmfao · 3 months

Note

I'm the anon who sent the last request for Zack's headcanon and I'm all 💖💞💓💗 I loved it sooo much <3 I could ask for another headcanon from him with a s/o who is a little scared of sleeping alone and loves it to be hugged in his arms all night? I hope it's not inconvenient asking one hc again I just love him so much ♡

Zack Fair with S/O Who’s Scared to Sleep Alone

pairing : zack fair x gn!reader

cw : none!

zack’s a busy guy.

he leaves early in the morning before you wake up and he’s usually home late in the night after you’ve gone to bed.

and you hate it.

you wake up to a cold bed, and you have to go to sleep with no one around.

being in the house by yourself all day is bad enough but as soon as the sun goes down it feels less boring and more scary.

every shadow seems bigger, like some big man has come creeping around the corner.

the floorboards seem to creek so much louder, like someone is sneaking through the house.

and the bed is always freezing.

it doesn’t help that the window faces your bed directly, you stare expecting someone to walk past or peer in.

you can’t sleep.

the first time, zack comes home, not bothering to check on you because he assumes you’re asleep.

i mean it’s midnight, you should be sleeping.

he showers, and crawls into bed, wrapping a heavy arm around you, as if it’s instinct, to pull you closer to him.

but you stir and he realizes you’re awake, turning to face him.

“baby.. why are you awake? i told you not to wait up.”

he’d stroke your head, finding your eyes even in the dark of your bedroom. and you mutter ‘couldn’t sleep’ in response.

“why not?”

honestly you’re not sure. yes you had been nervous earlier in the night but your bed was comfy enough and the house was safe.

so you just shrug.

“s’okay. i’m here now, so we can get some shut eye, yeah?”

he pulls you in close, and you feel your eyes becoming heavy, face buried in his muscular chest.

but you’re reeling in embarrassment, so sleep fails to come, even more so when zack’s snores fill your ears.

the second time, zack’s routine is the same.

you listen, pleading with yourself to fall asleep before he gets into bed.

god forbid you have to admit that you’re afraid in your home.

zack would go crazy installing security measures into you finally felt safe, but it wouldn’t help.

when zack enters the room he can already tell that your awake, you’re restless, he knows you well enough to know your habits.

he crawls into bed, clinging to your back side, arm lazily thrown over your side.

his cold hand reaches under your shirt to get closer to your skin, fingers tightening on your waist, “hi baby.”

both the cold and his voice makes you go rigid, flustered and embarrassed.

“why’re you awake hun?” his voice is soft, tired, and so close to your ear.

you can only shrug once more.

“you know what time it is?”

“no..”

“it’s late. too late for you to be awake, my love.” he kisses at your neck, making you squirm in his grip.

“let’s get some sleep baby.. we’re gonna talk about this in the morning, okay?”

you don’t. he’s gone in the morning. and you understand his busy schedule, but your still upset knowing tonight will be the same.

the day is the same as always, you’re nervous to be alone but you tidy up, and follow your schedule.

but when the sun goes down your nervousness grows, and your retreat to the bedroom to hide in the bed.

you turn the tv on, hoping it will help to have background noise. but it only makes you anxiety grow knowing you can’t hear anything else.

you miss zack. and you’re so tired.

but you can’t sleep.

so you lay in your bed, staring up at the ceiling, heartbeat quick in your chest.

at some point, your sleep deprived frustration causes tears to roll down your cheeks.

it only serves to embarrass you more, even though no one is home to witness the scene.

the third time, zack is home earlier.

it has you sitting up in the your shared bed instantly, scared that it might not be your beloved boyfriend entering your home.

he’s too early.

but then his head is peaking through the door, and then his body follows as he approaches.

you can tell he’s tired but there’s a sweet smile on his face.

“i figured you would be awake,” he speaks quietly, grabbing your hand and sitting on the edge of the bed.

“why are you awake,” your about to raise your shoulders but he cuts up off, “and don’t shrug, use your voice.”

“can’t sleep.”

“i know you can’t, baby.. why?” he squeezes your fingers, other hand landing gently on your knee.

you hesitate. you’re embarrassed. this is so childish.

“i.. i’m scared.”

his eyes would widen, concern and guilt fighting a war inside of his body. he should’ve been home more. had something happened?

“scared of what? what happened?”

“nothing.. i just.. i don’t know, the house seems so much scarier when you’re not home. can’t sleep without you.”

he calms. his blood stills. and his head levels out.

you’re safe. and the probelm is a fixable one.

“awh baby.. why didn’t you just say so?”

“cuz.. you work so hard for us I didn’t wanna wreck your schedule.”

he rids himself of his SOLDIER uniform, pulling you into the bed with him.

“i can always change my schedule. don’t worry about it.”

his fingers thread your hair, placing kisses across your face.

you breath him in. he hasn’t showered, but he doesn’t stink. he smells like home.

“can i make you breakfast tomorrow?”

“you’re gonna be home?”

“all day, my love.”

#x reader #headcanon #drabble #zack fair x reader #zack fair #zack ffvii #ffvii crisis core #ffvii #ff7 #final fantasy x reader #final fantasy vii

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mrsdarkandyandere7 · 9 months

Text

HC's: You're JJ's girlfriend

Pairing: Dark Rafe Cameron x (female) Reader

▶ This is a yandere/dark work and it may contain triggering content so please READ THE WARNINGS before. Do not read if minor.

More at Masterlist

WARNINGS: Violence; Manipulation.

@deceitfuldevout Since you requested this :) hope you like it.

Please, reblog and give me feedback.

–

You and JJ seem to be glued by the hip. Always together. Wherever you go, JJ follows like a slave to its master.

The clinginess almost makes Rafe throw up, how you’re always holding hands, cuddling in each other’s embrace, so lovey-dovey. It almost makes him want to punch JJ in the face so that he gets away from you.

You’re too good for JJ, which means you’re equally too good for Rafe but who cares?

JJ is absolutely head over heels and it makes Rafe wonder if you’re that lovely. What sorcery have you done to make that surfer boy so whipped for you? Was it your pussy or your personality?

Whatever it is, Rafe wants it too.

He’d be a much better boyfriend than lowlife JJ, that’s for sure. He can give you everything in the world while JJ can barely afford to take you out on a date.

Everyone noticed Rafe’s interest in you, it was hard to miss it with the incredibly obvious way his attention turned towards you whenever you were at the same place, his eyes following you around.

His unrequited attention only made tension and conflicts grow between Pogue’s and Kooks, as Rafe and his little group of friends started to coincidentally appear wherever you and your friends hung out.

Needless to say that JJ’s hatred for Rafe imploded the existent scale. Especially with the filthy way that Rafe ogled at you, checking you up and down.

You promptly ignored the boy, but JJ had a hard time letting it go, only walking away as you hugged him, begging him not to create a scene over nothing.

Rafe’s blood boils when he sees the glittery adoration on your eyes for JJ when he only receives a repulsed as if he’s a piece of shit that got stuck in your shoe when he talks to you.

The way you ignore him, shutting down his attempts of flirting as you walk away, without even sparing him a second look.

Rafe’s patience isn’t his best trait and it runs thin these days. Your evident rejection left a massive dent in his pride and as much as he liked chasing you, he’s had enough of it.

He’s Rafe goddamnit Cameron, not some stupid Pogue you can play with. Girls throw themselves at him, not the other way around.

If you wanna play hard to get, then so be it. You won’t like the consequences though.

His immediate reaction will be to join forces with his friends and gang up on JJ, like he did with Kelce at S1. There’s a sadistic smile on his face as he hits JJ’s over and over with his fist until he hears the satisfying nose crack. Bet you won’t like JJ so much when he’s all bloody and bruised.

And when you come looking for him, enraged with what he had done, Rafe will make sure you know that he’ll do it over and over again until you find out that he is the one for you, not JJ.

And so he does.

Rafe can do sooo many other things to convince you to choose him.

He has the resources and the brain to carry out worse actions but for now, he’ll see how much of JJ’s pain can you handle until you finally come crying to his arms, giving yourself to him in return of JJ's safety.

#@mrsdarkandyandere7 #dark!obx #dark obx #dark!rafe cameron #dark!rafe cameron x reader #dark rafe cameron #dark rafe cameron x reader #rafe cameron x reader #yandere x reader #obx imagine #tw: violence #tw.dark content #tw: dark content

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watchfuldeer · 1 year

Text

the tom and greg deleted scene from 2.07 is like yeah ok tom is in greg’s bed, he demanded to be let into greg’s intimate space and made greg lie on the floor on a pile of comforters like a dog, as punishment for greg’s blackmail over the corporate crime tom forced him to commit. but then the entire scene is actually about them trying to get the other to say they should share the bed they’ve made together, literally and metaphorically - share their criminal culpability, share their fear, share the burden of what they did, and also share the bed for comfort and companionship. and tom is the one who says no. twice!

tom offers a rare apology for the situation he’s put them in, and greg seizes the opportunity. ‘do i really need to—?’ lie on the floor, when there’s a perfectly good double bed?

in response he gets the immortal line, you can’t make a tomlette without breaking some gregs. it’s the first time we’ve heard it, but not the first time greg’s heard it. a stupid tom pun, but clearly something of a mantra to convince himself that he shouldn’t care about greg as much as he does.

he shows his hand though, first by apologising again, and then by saying it’s really sooo crazy that you have to sleep on the floor greg, to stop your inevitable betrayal, but there’s no other way… unless?

greg tries again, made bolder by tom’s obvious leading question, gambles his life and asks tom to trust him. trust him enough to not ask him to destroy the thing keeping him safe, trust him enough to believe he wouldn’t use them against tom (which we know he doesn’t, when given the chance!!), and, of course, to trust him to share a bed.

tom’s rejection is a classic overcompensatory tom laugh. he may even have done finger quotes around the worst trust. however, we know by this point he trusts greg implicitly on most things and depends on him emotionally.

the scene ends with tom and greg lying there in the dark, perilously close to something that they clearly want and yet can’t agree to the terms of.

#tomgreg #tom wambsgans #greg hirsch #succession scripts #succession #so sleeby sorry if this is garbled #just can’t stop thinking about it

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annymation · 4 months

Text

The Kingdom of Wishes- A “Wish” Rewrite

Chapter 11- Into The Eye Of A Storm

Chapter 10

The rain was falling down, and thunder could be heard humbling over Rosas.

Aster struggled to free himself from the king's chains that are coming from his staff, but to no avail.

The king just looked down on the star as he held him close to his face, so he began to speak casually:

"So, "Aster" was it? Hehehe I gotta say though, naming yourself just "Star" in Greek? Maybe not your... "Brightest" moment, hum? AH! HA HA HA" The king laughs at his own pun. He completely moved on from the bad mood he was in earlier "OH- I'm on a ROLL today!"

Aster ignores the bad joke as he keeps trying to use his magic to free himself. But their powers aren't responding to him, he's not able to shrink, nor glow brighter, nor unlock the chains, nothing. All he can do is fly and even that feels weaker.

"UGH- Why can't I-"

"Feel your power?" The king finishes their sentence "Dark magic: versatile, easy to use, but somehow oh sooo unappreciated. But I'm sure your magic isn't anything to sneeze at neither, right?" He grabs Aster's face with one hand and makes the star look at him "Care to share a little bit of it? Promise I'll give it back." He says with a very obviously faux gentle tone.

"Yeah right, if you take away my magic you're gonna KILL me!" Aster looks at him furiously.

"Oh you know that? Aw shucks, really thought I could trick ya... But then again" His grin widens "I think you'll come to find that you don't have a choice in the matter"

Asha is still on the top of the building, even though Aster begged her to run.

“LET GO OF HIM!”

Magnifico ignores her like she’s not even there. He’s floating about 2 meters away from where she’s standing.

He’s focused on analyzing the star closely while holding his face “Hmm and what a fascinating form you’ve chosen, it’s like you’re her little hero in cape and everything? How sweet.” He says in a mocking way while pinching his cheek “Though you surely look a lot more… Childlike than I expected, say, how old are you?”

Aster is still fighting but he doesn’t see why not answer the question “Eighteen.”

“18 what, boy? 18 hundred? 18 thousand? Be specific.” The king says nonchalantly.

Aster kinda stops struggling for a second and just gives the king a confused glance “… Well, if you want specifics, I’m 17, but I’m turning 18 in like 2 weeks from now so-”

“Wa-wait you’re serious?” The king interrupts him, staring at him in disbelief. The star nods… Magnifico quickly turns his attention to the girl below them and yells at her in frustration “ASHA! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? MILLIONS OF STARS IN THE SKY AND YOU WISHED UPON A WEAK LITTLE RUNT?! THIS THING IS A BABY” He says while shaking Aster side to side by the chains on his wrists like a rag doll, making the star a bit dizzy.

(A reminder that this man can switch from threatening to comedic at any second and I love it. Like he’s complaining to her like she just got him the wrong pizza toppings.)

“IF THEY’RE NOT WHAT YOU WERE LOOKING FOR THEN LET THEM GO!” Asha exclaims at him, her face is filled with rage.

Magnifico calms down and looks back to the star in his hands like he’s pondering his next move “Hmmmmm… Nah.” He shrugs with a smile “Beggars can’t be choosers I suppose. Besides, this just means he’s too weak to fight back. Isn’t that right, little one?” The king asks with a wicked grin while looking deep into the star’s eyes.

That comment made Aster frown a little.

Even though it’s raining, a few people start gathering bellow where they are to see what’s going on.

Magnifico smiles widely at that. He speaks quietly so just Aster can hear:

“Ooooh looks like we have an audience. Do me a kindness and try to look as defeated and pathetic as you can, okay? I could really use the positive image right now.” Aster has a sad face “Perfect! you’re a natural.” He says like Aster and him are about to perform a scene together in a play.

Asha is looking side to side trying to think on what to do… She notices something on the floor.

The king walks on the air to get few feet down, so his people can better hear him.

(Now let me explain how exactly Magnifico’s flying works, he’s not floating around like Aster does, he’s much more “standing” while underneath his feet there’s a green light, like he just created the steps of a stair. If you watched Onward you know what I mean, it’s exactly like this)

(So I guess Onward reference, huh, who would’ve thought, a Pixar reference at last, took me long enough.)

“REJOICE MY PEOPLE!” the king exclaims ecstatic “Our little “Wish stealing star” issues have been resolved much earlier than expected!” That got a reaction from Aster, his face became furious once again “Like I said, you can always count on me t-“

Aster screamed on the king’s face “THE ONLY WISH STEALER HERE IS YOU! YOU LYING SNA- HMmH!” The king used his magic to keep the boy’s mouth shut.

“Oh-ho and it’s FEISTY TOO! Heheh- GOOD! I was worried this would be way too easy-“

🪕B L A M🎶

“OUCH! AAAH!”

The crowd gasps.

Something just hit the king’s head and made him lose focus on the flying spell. He falls on the floor.

… Asha just threw her Saba’s mandolin on Magnifico’s face, she’s standing on top of the building breathing deeply, relieved that it was a perfect shot.

Aster is free from the chains.

The star doesn’t skip a beat and flies to Asha immediately, holding her in his arms bridal style.

“Hold on tight!” Aster says.

The two fly off in the rain.

We cut to King Magnifico laying face first on the floor.

He didn’t fall from too high up but it was still quite painful.

The crowd is all around him, worried for their king.

Queen Amable rushes to where he is, with some guards pushing the people aside to let her pass.

“DARLING!! OH MY- ANYTHING HURT??” The queen asks genuinely worried, as she sits on her knees next to him.

“… Just my pride.” His voice is muffled, because his face is still laying on the floor. He begins to stand up as he asks “Ugh- quick, how’s my face?” He asks his wife while touching his own face to feel if there’s any injuries.

“As handsome as always, mi rey” The queen coos, caressing his cheek lovingly.

His eyes light up as his excitement returns to him at full force.

“THEN NO HARM DONE!” He exclaims, smiling like a mad man, he’s high on the adrenaline of the hunt.

He stands up quickly to go catch those teens.

“A little bump in the road, sure! But no need for panic everyone!” The king announces to the people around “Just remain in doors and stay calm, things may get a little... Messy hehehe" He chuckles, thinking of all the forbidden and deadly spells he'll finally have an excuse to use.

He uses his staff to run upwards on thin air, he just can't wait to kill those two teens but-

He feels something pulling his cape.

He looks down.

... Amaya is holding his cape, looking at him worriedly... As in, ACTUALLY worried.

He looks at her puzzled, but his eyes for the first time show a gleam of humanity as he looks down on the love of his life.

"... Just... Be careful." She says, glancing at the storm above them.

... Magnus gives her a comforting smile as he removes his cape, it'll be easier to fly without it weighting him down.

He hands the cape to her, whispering softly "I'll be back before you know it."

...

And up he goes.

Amaya is holding his cape tightly...

She has a bad feeling about this.

...

Okay, so now you guys might think Asha and Aster successfully skedaddled from the king's grasp because he took too long on the ground, right?

Well I'm sorry to say but you thought wrong. Here's what was happening with our heroes while this was taking place.

Aster is flying with Asha in his arms, they're going back to the forest, his cape leaves a trail of light.

He sounds quite traumatized as he says:

"HOW DID THAT CREEP MANAGE TO DECEIVE A WHOLE KINGDOM FOR YEARS?? HE'S SCARIER THAN A VAMPIRE STAR!"

(Vampire stars: stars that sucks the outer layers of material from a companion star, stripping their "bitten" victim down to a mere stellar core.

This is a real thing, and now I'm adding to the lore of wishing stars that there are these evil vampire stars that suck away other wishing star's powers... We have fun here.)

"Welcome to Rosas," (🎶Come on, come this way- sorry) "Where everyone just sees what they want to see." Asha says with a saddened expression. She's looking down on her kingdom as they fly away.

She looks at the castle in the distance...

"Wait... Aster, we gotta go to the castle!" Asha tells him determined

The star stops flying abruptly.

"UUUH Why???" Aster asks her in shock, this is kinda deja vu to that other time she suggested they should run to the castle.

"You can un-curse wishes!" She exclaimed "You un-cursed my wish! We can save A LOT of people if we go in there and you use your magic on as many as you can!"

Now usually Aster would be more than happy to do just that... But he's still a bit shaken by the whole encounter with the king, he's afraid he might catch up to them.

"Asha... I'm not sure we-"

"We can do this, he flies way slower than you, if we hurry we can get there before him." She looks into Aster's eyes, she's full of hope that they can at least save some of her people.

Aster can see her light shining brighter.

"... Then we better hurry." He gives her a trusting smile.

He turns around, flying towards the castle as fast as possible.

As they're reaching the castle, there's indeed no sign of Magnifico.

They get near the window of the wishes room.

"See? Told you we could do it." Asha says with a smile

"Yeah... I guess I am a lot faster than him." He says while flying to get through the window "Now let's do this quick before- OUCH!" Aster hits something when he tries to get in...

There's a green forcefield that manifested on the open window when Aster tries getting through it.

"What th-" Aster tries to hit it to get his hand through but the magic seems to be as strong as concrete, he groans in frustration.

Asha’s smile immediately fell into a scowl.

“oooOOOH SERIOUSLY?!” Asha screams.

“Why, yes. I do take the safety of my people’s wishes very seriously.”

… Take a wild guess on who’s standing behind them with a smug grin…

As soon as Aster hears the king’s voice he JUMPS and flies to the roof of the tower.

He’s holding Asha tightly as he KICKS the roof with his two feet to push himself away from the castle, thus flying away even faster.

Magnifico simply smiles as he uses his staff to once again summons a green hand.

The hand moves quickly through the rain.

Aster is flying as fast as he can but-

The hand catches him.

Asha falls from his arms.

She screams as she falls down.

“NO!” Aster yells in desperation.

Magnifico is now right next to him, smiling maliciously.

“Ah the stars look so pretty when they fall, don’t they?”

Aster’s legs are still free, so he KICKS the staff from Magnifico’s hand, making the king lose focus on the spell.

Aster is freed and flies down almost at the speed of light

It’s a shame the moment was so quick, maybe Aster would’ve noticed Magnifico almost stopped floating when the staff left his hand for a second…

“… That was close…” Magnifico said under his breath

Aster catches Asha in his arms.

“YOU OKAY??” He asks terrified.

“NOPE” She says shaken to her core. Holding him tightly.

Aster weights their options in his head… If they go to to the forest the king is just gonna follow them, he won’t give up on getting his power…

His power.

That’s what the king wants, not Asha.

…

He’s gonna have to break Rule number 1 again.

“Asha, listen.” The Star calls her attention, sounding more serious than ever “We gonna have to split up again, but I PROMISE I’ll come back before you know it.”

Asha looks at him confused.

“What?”

His animation looks more sketchy, like it’s unfinished.

“I’ll send you to the forest, very deep into it, so he can’t find you, I’ll just keep him busy for a-“

“NO! You can’t fight him off! You gotta stay AWAY from him.” She’s holding him by the cape.

“I know, but it’s the only way I can keep you safe.”

He lets her go from his arms, making her float with his magic.

“ASTER WAIT!”

“I’ll know where to find you… I’m sorry.”

He stops flying away.

And makes his star dust cary her, flying away deep into the forest.

Asha is looking back at him in the verge of tears.

All Aster can do is sigh.

…

Alright.

Time to fight a sorcerer king.

That happens to be right behind him, again.

“You know there are wolves in those woods, right?” Magnifico asks sarcastically as he floats like he's laying down on thin air.

Aster turn around quickly and uses his star dust to make several swords.

He throws them at the king and-

*Poof*

They just disappear into glittery smoke when they touch him.

“PFFT AHAHAHAHAAH STOP IT- I didn’t sign up for a tickle fight! Hahah” Magnifico holds his sides as he laughs

Aster is stunned.

“W-what? How did y-“

The king casted another spell to capture Aster, but this time the star dodges it.

Aster flies upwards.

The king follows with a wicked smile.

Aster doesn't understand, why didn’t that work?... Maybe the king was just expecting it and shielded himself? Yeah. That’s gotta be it.

He tries again, this time trying to do what the king did to him before, creating chains made of star dust to tie him down.

When the chains reach Magnifico, he just dust them off his body with his hand like it’s nothing.

… Aster is pretty peeved to say the least. His animation seems more sketchy and rough.

“HOW IS THIS FAIR? Your dark magic thing makes my powers useless!” Aster exclaims while he flies away from the king.

“Ha! You think THIS is because of my magic?! Boy, come on, I know you’re young, but don’t tell me I actually know more about your kind than YOU do!”

Aster keeps flying away, but he looks back at the king as he asks “What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“Let me "enlighten you", little one.”

He charges up a lightning spell.

“Your magic is made out of… JOY!

⚡️

Aster manages to dodge the lightning.

“GOODNESS!”

⚡️

Aster barely managed to escape the second one

“AND LIGHT!”

⚡️

“AGH!”

Aster didn’t dodge this last one. Their chest has a hole in it now…

That didn’t feel like that time Valentino jumped through him, this actually hurts... A lot.

Magnifico takes the opportunity to capture him again, this time tying him up with a snake made out of green magic.

Aster doesn’t have time to react before he’s wrapped in the snake’s grip.

There's the sound of thunder near them.

Magnifico approaches him slowly, now that the boy is held still in one place.

“And those things- Well, they can’t really hurt anyone, now can they? Heh heh” Magnifico is now flying right next to the star “So... I’m afraid there's little you can do to defend yourself, or anyone else.” He makes a little pout as if to fake pity.

… Aster never knew his magic couldn’t hurt others… Then again, hurting others was never something that crossed his mind before he met this man.

“… If it’s only made of good things then… Why do you want it so bad?” Aster asks

Magnifico’s eyes light up with the question.

“Oooh because it just needs to be wielded by the RIGHT person, my boy. Yes, in you, this magic is very limited because your heart is pure… But in me and my beloved queen however… We’ll be able to do ANYTHING.” He leans in closer to look at the star straight in the eyes as he adds “And that includes hurting the petulant little brat that wished upon you~”

Aster feels a chill run down his whole body. He couldn’t let that happen.

He tried to struggle out of the snake's grip.

Magnifico is amused by the star's determination.

“Heh heh stubborn just like her, aren’t you?”

“YEAH! SHE IS STUBBORN, AND YOU KNOW WHAT?! EVEN IF YOU DO STEAL MY POWER, YOU CAN’T STOP HER, SHES GONNA INSPIRE EVERYONE IN THAT KINGDOM TO RISE UP AGAINST YOU!” Aster exclaims with no doubt that Asha can do it, even without his help.

“Now what are you blabbering about insp- … Wait” Magnifico looks at nothing as he starts connecting the dots “Don’t tell me- That little performance you two were doing at the plaza…” a smile starts creeping in his face, and he starts trying to hold in a laugh “was -pffff- waS THAT AN ATTEMPT TO- HAHAH TO “INSPIRE” THOSE PEASANTS?!” The king has a maniacal smile.

… Aster doesn’t respond, he just avoids eye contact.

“*GASP* IT WAS! WASN’T IT?! OH- HAHAHAHAH” He lets out an evil laugh that echoes through the storm.

Aster tries not paying attention to what Magnifico says.

He tries looking at anything else, the rain, the lightning strikes in the distance, the king's staff...

Wait.

“OH- oh that’s hahha! That’s too good! OH and let me guess, that was YOUR idea, wasn’t it?!”

Aster already muted Magnifico's voice in his head, he looks closely to the staff... It seems to be made of...

Copper.

Aster hears another thunder.

The boy has a realization… This man is not smart.

Said man holds the star’s face, so he looks at him in the eyes.

“And here I was expecting that the girl got some WISE and MIGHTY guide from the sky! But NOPE! All she got was YOU, a naive little boy that doesn't know ANYTHING about how the world works!" The king has a deranged grin ear to ear as his grip on the boy's face tightens.

"Did you actually think that SINGING and DANCING would change ANYTHING?! Honestly, how much of a FOOL are you?!"

...

The star's face crescents into... A smile.

And the king hear's something that he REALLY didn't expect to hear from the boy.

"...pffft hihihi hi hi he- hehe heeh he heh ahah aahha aha ha HAHAH HAHAHAHA HAHAHA AHAAAHHAHAAHHAHHAHA"

The star boy is just laughing… It’s a youthful and free spirited laugh.

Magnifico's evil glee is replaced by bewilderment. He blinks a few times as the boy keeps laughing in his face.

... Did he just break this kid?... Already? After just knowing him for less than an hour?... Well, that sure is a new record for the king.

Magnifico looks frustrated as he asks "What's so funny?"

Aster calms down, and simply looks at the king with a playful smile as he explains

"Hehe oh nothing it's just that- heh heh yeah, I may be a fool but..." Aster's smile turns into cheeky smirk, and there's a gleam of mischief in his eyes as he says confidently:

"At least I'm not the IDIOT that brought a stick made of copper... Into the eye of a storm."

Magnifico's eyes widens.

And at the same time that realization hits him... Something else hits him too.

And all he has time to say is:

"Oh no-"

(hahahaAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAAH aaaah… I waited 11 chapters to write this by the way.)

The king’s staff is hit by a lightning bolt, sending shockwaves through his body.

A painful scream echos above the Kingdom of Rosas.

“MAGNUS!!!”

The queen exclaimed in horror.

... Just as she feared... He got carried away.

Needless to say, Aster’s body is freed from the king’s grasp. The boy watches as the man plummets along with the rain drops.

Aster isn’t smiling anymore, even he is shaken by what just happened, even though he saw it coming.

But he has no time to dwell on this now, he has a friend to find in the forest. So off he goes, leaving a trail of star dust behind him, like a shooting star.

…

But we’ll be focusing on Asha and Aster’s reencounter in the next chapter.

Now. Let’s focus our attention on what’s happening down in Rosas.

…

We see the bare foots of the queen running franticly through the dampened streets of her kingdom, she left her high heels behind her.

She's lifting her long skirt up so she can run faster.

Her hair is soaked and messy... Her crown falls on the ground.

She doesn't care, the crown doesn't matter, nothing matters. All that matters to her is finding him.

She’s desperate. An emotion never yet displayed by the relentless queen before.

The guards are trying to keep up with her, as well as other citizens.

She sees people gathered in a circle, the queen pushes through them violently to find what they’re all looking at.

“OUT OF MY WAY!” She yells, her voice is a high pitched screech full of anguish.

The people quickly let her through as they realize who she is.

Amaya finally gets through the people to find…

King Magnifico is laying face first on the floor. Just like before.

“MAGNUS!" The queen runs to his body and hugs it.

He must have used a protection spell, right? He just want to make the star look worse in the eyes of their people, right? Yes, that has to be it.

She tries to take some deep breaths while holding him.

"I-I'm here my love... You may rise now"

No response.

"... Mi vida?... This isn't funny... I know you used a spell to shield yourself... Didn't you?"

She's still not facing him, his face is still laying down on the floor.

A guard approaches from behind her

"... Your highness, we must take the king to the doctor at once-"

"NO- NO HE- he's alright, he-he's just being dramatic, like always ah haha right, my love?"

She starts turning his body so she can see his face.

"Co-come on Magnus, you wouldn't want to keep our people-" She sees his face, a few people in the crowd gasp "... Waiting"

There's a scar.

The king's left eye has a huge scar.

Amaya caresses his face.

...

She hesitates as she places a hand on his chest...

She can't feel a heart beat.

His cold heart stopped.

The king is dead.

...

Final Thoughts

OOOOH I'M KIDDING HAHAHA- this isn't the end of the chapter yet :)

But it could be the ending though, right?

I mean, the villain died, Aster even gave a cheeky smile and a final line the likes of "And everything that comes with it" from Alladin.

In a Disney movie, you defeat the villain and the story can wrap up, right?

What more there is to it?

... Well, this rewrite is meant to feel like a proper Disney 100th anniversary movie, so this ain't your typical Disney movie.

And King Magnifico is supposed to the 100th anniversary Disney villain, so he ain't your typical Disney villain.

No... He has something that no other villain in the Disney pantheon had.

He has love.

And what is love?

Love is, and always will be, the most powerful thing on earth. That's what Disney taught us for 100 years.

So... What happens when the villains have love?

This is what I think happens:

...

Queen Amable’s eyes widen as it becomes undeniably clear… Magnus is dead.

... The rain now is dying down, becoming a drizzle...

She hears the sound of her people mourning for their king, crying and lamenting the tragedy.

...No...

She would not mourn. To mourn would be to accept that he's gone. And she knows him well enough to know that's not what he'd want. No.

She would never give up on him.

All this time she was worried about what these people would think of them, and now here they are, pathetically crying and moaning... They are weak...

She and her beloved don't need them. They never did. All they need is one another. It no longer mattered to her what they thought of her. It no longer mattered if they became afraid of her. It no longer mattered if they didn't love her anymore.

HIS love is all the love she needs.

And so, in this moment. She didn't care in the slightest about showing aaaaall these people... Why in the past they weren't kidding when they called her, well...

A witch.

Amaya suddenly get's up. Surprising the people around with how quickly she did so.

She RIPS the second layer of her long dress, revealing that inside there were many hidden pockets, each one with a small flask of colorful potions that she caries around for emergencies... Such as this.

The crowd gasps in surprise, they all stare at the queen in confusion.

She takes two of the flasks and begins mixing them, her face is cold and focused:

"Phoenix ashes mixed with two drops of scarab beetle juice" The queen says to herself under her breath.

She takes another flask from her skirt

"Newt saliva to heal the heart" She empties the flask and throws it on the ground, breaking it.

Another guard tries to talk to her:

"Uh- umm your majesty what are y-"

"Silence." She tells him, her tone is as sharp as a dagger.

She proceeds to name another ingredient.

"A tear of grief." She says as she takes one tear from her eye, and it really is one single tear.

She stops for a moment as if to remember the next ingredient... She remembers.

Her face turns to the confused citizens and shouts:

"I NEED A CHILD WITH LONG HAIR! NOW!" Her voice echoes, almost louder than the thunder from the storm.

The people are startled, their queen is usually so quiet and gentle, seeing her like this is like seeing a whole different person.

"QUICKLY! I DON'T HAVE MUCH TIME BEFORE THE SOUL COMPLETELY LEAVES HIS CORPSE!" She yells at them furiously.

"He-here!" A woman emerges from the crowd holding her daughter, a little girl with long blonde hair and green eyes.

(Because you bet I'll fit in a Tangled reference in this serious and tense scene)

The queen walks quickly to the girl and plucks a strand of hair, which the girl responds with a little "Ow!"

Amaya measures the hair strand with her fingers

"... This will give him about 10 years... Good enough." She says to herself as she puts the hair inside the flask.

A puff of smoke comes out from the flask... The potion is ready.

... It won't be long now.

She walks to her beloved husband, holding the potion in her hands.

She sits next to him... She pets his hair as she looks at his lifeless but still gorgeous face, scar and all. She looks at him with a wistful smile and...

She drinks the potion.

The crowd looks in shock.

Amaya coughs a few times, by the looks of it the potion tasted terrible... But it would be worth it.

She looks back to her king and says in a whisper

"And now, the most important step... True love's kiss."

She kisses him.

The people in the crowd look hopeful, everyone has read in fairytales what a true love's kiss is.

... But Amaya's magic isn't the same as the magic of a fairy... Oh no no no. When it comes to dark magic, you can't simply gain something for free... All dark magic does is take. And it does take something away from Amaya... Something she values a lot.

As she kisses their king, the people start to notice something is happening to their queen...

Her hair get's whiter, with a prominent white hair streak growing from her roots and embracing her whole braided hair.

(Because you bet I'll ALSO reference Anna's hair, from Frozen!)

Not only that, but her hands and face become more wrinkled.

... The queen is aging rapidly.

The people look horrified, worried they might get their king back but lose their queen

(And let me tell ya folks, that would be a TERRIBLE thing to happen because then our boy King Mag would straight up kill everyone in Rosas and then himself... Again.)

But the queen suddenly stops the kiss, she lifts her head up taking deep breaths, exhausted after giving away 10 years of her life to her love...

She looks 60 years old now.

... The king is still motionless...

...

The crowd is staring in anticipation.

...

Magnifico's eye's are shot open.

"*GAAAAAASP* *COUGH* COUGH*"

He sit's up quickly as he coughs while gasping for air.

"Shhhhh there there darling, just take some deep breaths now" The queen coos gently, her previous cold hearted demeanor vanished in an instant, and she's once again the kind and loving queen they all know her to be.

The crowd cheers and applauds the queen for successfully bringing the king back to life.

And said king is... Very lost on what on earth just happened, as he places a hand on his head and his eyes are closed, he seems to be in a lot of pain.

"UGhhh... My head-"

"Does it hurt? I can make something to help with that... Healing your face however, may prove to be more of a challenge." The queen says while petting his back.

The king's eyes widen at the comment, he quickly turns to look at his wife for the first time since he came back to life

"What's that about my fa- *gasp*" He get's startled when he sees HER face.

His queen is changed... She's smiling at him, which show even more all her new wrinkles... The white hair streak is very noticeable on her crown-less messy and soaked wet hair.

Magnifico stares at her incredulous... He starts connecting the dots in his head, as he also remembers what happened to him...

"... Amaya... What did you do?" He says as he places a hand on her cheek gently. His eyes are full of worry.

The queen stops smiling... She instinctively tries covering her face with her hands.

Magnus immediately holds her hands, as he looks her deep in the eyes and reassures her "You are... And ALWAYS will be the fairest queen of all, and no curse in this world or any other can change that for me." He says with certainty.

... Even though it's raining, by the queen's expression it's clear that she teared up with that comment.

The king wraps his arms around her gently, like she could turn into dust at any moment.

"... I'm so sorry that I failed you... This never EVER should've happened... But I swear to you, my love" His voice goes cold "I will not fail you... Ever again."

... He would not let himself get carried away again...

That girl is going to pay.

And that star will be theirs.

King Magnifico realizes they're still being watched... They'll continue this tender moment later. Now, he better make the most of the situation, after all, him being literally MURDERED by the star boy certainly helps his side of the narrative.

The king tries to get up but his legs are still feeling a bit numb, his body is still getting used to the fact that it's up and running again. Two guards help him stand up. And they also hand him his magic staff that was laying next to him

Magnifico is now standing up with his wife holding him tightly.

He takes a deep breath to start one of those long and inspiring speeches of his:

"People of Rosas... It seems even I underestimated just how vicious the enemy we're facing really is... The fallen star thought he could kill the heart of this kingdom, but as you can all see, this HEART is still beating! And it shall remain like this for many years to come!" The king says proudly.

The people cheer in unison. Some saying "Long live the king".

... Probably not the best time for Amaya to tell him she could only give him more 10 years soooo he's not getting past 65.

"Rosas shall never fall! For we are the kingdom of HOPE! And NO force in this world can stop-"

"*COUGH COUGH* Aah"

The king's speech is cut short, as the queen starts coughing and her legs go weak.

"Woah woah Amaya?" Magnifico looks worried as he holds her closer to him, stopping her from falling.

The people gasp in surprise

The king holds her close to him and whispers "Heh heh no need for theatrics my love, th-they're already on our side" Magnifico says, hoping the queen is just being dramatic to gain even more sympathy from them.

"... It's not pretending" She whispers to him "I feel... Weak."

(If this was a movie, the whole internal dialogue that will happen now, as well as Amaya's internal dialogue that happened earlier, would be just their expressions changing from worried to serious in a few seconds, and just by their expressions and the music the audience would be able to tell that this is a "Oh, they snapped" moment)

...

Only in that moment Magnus really starts to process what just happened.

He... DIED.

Just like that... He could've left her... Alone... Forever.

And why did he die?... Because he wanted to impress these people. He wanted to make a big spectacle about capturing that star. They made him weaker.

Not only that, but their love and loyalty was flimsy. It took only ONE GIRL speaking in front of a crowd for some people to start questioning him... Clearly, he and his queen are doing this all wrong.

All this time, pretending and deceiving to gain the love of these people, so they'd trust him with their wishes... But the situation changed. Once he harness that star's power, they'll have no use for these people anymore, will they?

So why be loved... When they can be feared?

It's not like he needs their love anyway.

HER love is all the love he needs.

And so, in this moment. He didn't care in the slightest about showing aaaaall these people... Why he wasn't chosen to be the heir to the throne.

...

The king's face morphs from worried to stoic, as he caresses his wife's hair gently.

The people are looking at him, expecting him to continue the speech.

But instead, Magnifico addresses one specific guard that is standing next to some others

"Captain O'Danohue." The king's voice is emotionless, he's still looking down to his wife while talking to the soldier.

The captain steps forward.

"Yes sire." The captain is a tall and large man with a beard and ginger hair just like Simon's

"Where did that star and that girl go?" Magnifico is still not making eye contact with the man

"They were seen flying to the forest, your majesty."

"Good, good. Send all your men to search for them immediately."

"Right away, your majesty. Do not worry, we'll-"

"And if they're not found til tomorrow night your men will burn that whole forest down." The king added, still talking monotonously.

That gets a few surprised looks from the people around them

The captain of the royal guard is taken aback by this "... Pardon me sire but I think I misun-"

The king finally takes his eyes off his wife to look at the captain with a bored expression "They can't hide in a forest if there's no forest, now can they?" He says like it's just common sense

The captain is perplexed "But- But what about the people that live there? There are houses in the woods."

"They have till tomorrow night to leave then." The king said simply "But of course, if that sounds too hard for you I can burn it down myself." Magnifico shrugs.

The people look shocked... The island's forest has been considered sacred for generations.

The king adds

"Oh, and speaking of "leaving", have your men also burn and destroy all the boats at the docks... No one get's in or out this kingdom until we find that star, was I clear?" He says while looking at the people around him this time.

Simon's father is speechless for a moment... The king seems to have lost his mind, but that's understandable, right? He died a few minutes ago.

The soldier tries to snap him out of it:

"My liege, with all due respect, I don't think-"

"Due respect?" Magnifico interrupts him once again, this time with a hint of anger creeping in his voice "I think you misunderstand captain. You all OWE ME all the respect you can possibly give, not only as your KING, but also as the one who MADE YOU who you are." He doesn't even raise his voice much, those words echo in the hearts of all the citizens that had their wishes granted "I didn't grant your wish of becoming my knight for you to THINK, O'Danohue, I did it for you to OBEY... Was I clear?" The king asks again.

The captain goes stiff.

He bows down to the king as he says "Crystal clear, your majesty."

... A sinister smile finally returns to the king's now scared face.

"There you go, that's a lot easier, isn't it?" The king says condescendingly.

That felt good... He should've done this a long time ago.

He looks down to his queen that he has been holding in his arms this whole time, she's looking up to him, also smiling wickedly.

They're on the same page, they won't pretend to be something they're not anymore.

That girl thought that truth would set these people free? Oh... They're more trapped than ever.

They both turn to look at their frightened and confused subjects.

The king’s glares at them as he says "... I believe it’s quite obvious what will happen to anyone who dares helping the traitor and the star" The green gem on the king's staff starts glowing "Right?"

The crowd all shakes their heads "Yes" quickly, as they know this is a threat.

The gem slowly stops glowing.

"Wonderful, that will be all then." He lifts the staff upward to hit it on the ground "And remember, Rosas... Just keep wishing." He has a subtle smile, this phrase is what he always says at the end of Wish ceremonies.

He hits the floor, creating a huge cloud of green smoke that engulfs him and Amaya, they teleport to the palace.

(I was gonna write Magnifico's reaction to his new scar... Buuuut I think I'll keep that off screen, I think you guys can imagine how he felt about it.)

...

The people of Rosas are at a loss.

Some think the king just went insane and it's all thanks to that star.

Other's think that he's right to take desperate measures to handle this threat.

And a few are now starting to realize that maybe they've been lied to this whole time and the king has always been a bad person.

No one is quite sure what to think of this.

...

Except for a certain group of teens... And a goat.

Who went inside to get cover from the rain just before the king went after Aster... So they didn't see the whole ordeal that just happened.

But they have seen enough to know exactly what side they're choosing to be on... Knowing what they know now.

...

Note that I didn't say how many teens are in that group.

Chapter 12

Final Thoughts

(for real this time)

... So ummmm... That was a lot, wasn't it? hahaha

I swear next chapter will be all about Asha and Aster and there will be WHOLESOME VIBES... After some sad vibes first.

Yeah, they gotta have a little heart to heart BUT it'll be more chill than THIS whole thing that just happened. In fact, from this point forward things should get a little bit more calm... For a while.

But now speaking on this chapter-

LETS GOOOOOOOOOOO CHARACTER DESING CHANGE!!!!

THE BROTHER KILLER HAS A SCAR!

THE WITCH LOOKS OLD!

REFERENCES ALL AROUND!!!

I usually don't say this, but ummm if I see fanart of King Magnifico with a scar on his left eye and Queen Amable looking older with a white hair streak it would be so awesome, it would be so cool... Just saying I would go insane, even more than I already am.

And the way I came up with this plot point weeks ago literally is the funniest thing, here's how my thought process went:

I want the confrontation in chapter 10 to feel tense... I'll say it's a cloudy day... Clouds bring rain... And rain brings a storm... And storms brings lightning... And lightning kills Disney villains... I'll kill Magnifico because he had it too good for too long. He needs to take an L. His actions have consequences.

SO THE NARRATIVE ESCALATED FROM:

"IT'S A CLOUDY DAY" TO "THE KING DIED."

LMAO

But seriously though, THIS is a big turning point for the villains.

Initially, they just wanted Aster's power for the sake of wanting it, because it would be fun to have it... Now? Now it's a NEED.

It's a need because they need immortality, Magnifico had a taste of his own mortality, and Amaya is older and weaker, they NEED to have that magic so they can live together forever. Have their happily EVER after, so to speak.

To me that feels more unique and compelling than just "We want power... Even though we already got it."

And speaking of Aster CAREFUL BOY! YOUR PETER PAN SIDE IS SHOWING!!! That laugh Aster let out is supposed to feel like a Peter Pan laugh by the way.

Yeah writing Aster and Magnifico's dynamic was SO MUCH FUN like wooooow you guys have no idea. It's Captain Hook and Peter Pan, it's Alladin and Jafar, it's Hercules and Hades, I wanna fit in all those vibes!!!

But let's address the elephant in the room... So true love's kiss, huh?

I just think it would be HILARIOUS if Disney not only gave us a villain couple for the first time ever... BUT ALSO USED THEM TO PROVE THE POINT THAT TRUE LOVE IS POWERFUL AS HECK.

I mean, they've shown us that

Over

And over

AND OVER

So I think having this classic trope happen, BUT TWIST IT in your 100th anniversary movie, would be pretty neat ya know? like, I think, you guys tell me, I don't know 🤷‍♀️

Anyway, this chapter was LOOOONG and full of emotions, mostly tense ones, but things are gonna chill a bit with Asha and Aster on the next one, I promise!

As always

Thank You For Reading!

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